Who knew?

Well certainly not me! I actually don't know how this escaped me but throughout my entire life I have sewed mostly with my mum and she never used, or mentioned, a thing such as this.
This, my friends, is a bodkin. It is a tool designed to thread cord or ribbon through a pocket. Would be good for threading elastic. I used it to thread the ribbon for my bag. It is blunt at the top and long enough to thread easily. It grasps the cord easily by its grip teeth which you adjust by sliding down the metal ring. I have ALWAYS used safety pins. I hate them, they come undone midway and stab you, or they drop the cord normally just before the end and you have to start all over again and that is when I can actually find one. I have struggled like that for years before this little gem came into my life last week and guess who gave it to me - MUM!! Who knew?