Take a fresh look at an open safety pin and you will notice two things: the sharp point and, near the bend, a tiny hole in the metal. Most people slide the pin through fabric, close the clasp, and never wonder why that hole exists. It is not a manufacturing mistake or a leftover dot from a machine. The hole is a quiet tool built for one clever job—turning the safety pin into a gentle guide that can lead elastic, ribbon, or cord through narrow tunnels of cloth without any swearing or lost ends.
Imagine you are making pajama pants and need to feed soft elastic through the waistband tunnel. If you simply shove the elastic in bare, it bunches, twists, and stops halfway like a shy mouse. Instead, you secure one end of the elastic to the tiny hole in the safety pin using a few hand stitches or a tight double knot. The pin becomes a sturdy nose that you can push along the fabric tube, feeling its way forward while the elastic follows like a happy tail. Because the pin’s coil is stiff, you can pinch and pull without hurting your fingers, and the rounded head keeps the elastic from slipping off the path.
The same trick rescues drawstrings that have escaped hoodies, bag handles that have vanished inside seams, and even decorative ribbons that need to peek out of pillow edges. After the guiding tour is done, you simply snip the thread or loosen the knot, pull the pin free through the hole it was made for, and your elastic sits smooth and even, ready to hug whatever waist or cuff it belongs to. No special gadgets to buy, no fancy attachments to hunt for—just the humble safety pin proving once again that the smartest solutions are often the smallest ones hiding in plain sight.
