I am thinking of doing some leather sewing projects and saw there were two kinds of gloves that look the same to me and cost almost the same so I don't understand which one to buy.
They are called "hand sewing glove" ("syhandske") and "sailmaker glove" ("segelmakarhandske") from what I can tell. Might be called "sewing palm", "seaming palm" or "roping palm" as well? What are the differences? (Basically I want to know if I can pick the one I think is prettier or if there are actual differences)
It seems that both the English terms, sailmakers palm* and sewing palm, are used interchangeably (and sometimes combined as sailmaker's sewing palm).
The Swedish terms aren't—based on internet searches—even though the tools indeed look as similar.†
There is, however, a subdivision of the sewing palm into the seaming palm and the roping palm:
The seaming palm is used for sewing seams, patches and in general, lighter work. The eye has several indentation to accept the eye end of the needle.
The roping palm is used for heavier work such as sewing boltrope to the sail. The indentations in the eye are fewer and larger to accept the end of the larger needles that are required for heavier work [see e.g. this image]. Leather extends up the thumb of the roping palm. This allows the user to wrap the thread around the thumb for greater pull without cutting into flesh.
An important difference in the designs is that some have the 'thimble' in the middle of the palm, whereas others have them against the thenar eminence. One probably has an advantage over the other depending on the task and personal preference, but for heavier duty work (like roping) the one closer to the palm might be better, as the needle will be more in line with the arm, and more force can be applied.
I think most if not all differences in design are matters of preference, as well. One that stands out is that some palms are single strips of leather with a hole in them, while others consists of two distinct strips, of which one is strapped around the thumb (and some DIY designs are Y-shaped).
I can also imagine that historically different countries or regions had design differences—the one sold here is called "Dutch", for example.
In books about sailing, it is referred to simply as a "palm":
In The Seaman's Friend from 1874:
And in Make Your Own Sails, a handbook from 1966:
* This seems to be the most common spelling, but it could also be sailmaker's or sailmakers' palm.
† Could it be a regional difference in terminology?
