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wikiHow to Insert a Drawstring

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Whether the drawstring has pulled out of a waistband or you're inserting a drawstring or elastic in a casing you have just sewn, you'll recognize the problem of pushing a flexible drawstring through a soft, often narrow opening. Here is how to insert a drawstring quickly and without difficulty.


  1. 1
    Attach a large safety pin to one end of the string. The safety pin should be as long as possible while being narrow enough to fit through the casing.
  2. 2
    Push the safety pin into the opening of the waistband or casing as far as you can.
  3. 3
    Feel through the fabric from here on in. Squeezing outside the waistband, pinch the back end of the safety pin and push more fabric over it from the front. Then, push another length of fabric over the safety pin, and so on. You should have a length of fabric bunched up over the safety pin.
  4. 4
    Pinch the front of the safety pin through the fabric and pull the excess fabric back along the drawstring.
  5. 5
    Repeat this action as necessary to pull the drawstring all the way through so that the safety pin emerges at the other end of the casing.
  6. 6
    Remove the safety pin.
  7. 7
    Pull the ends of the drawstring so that they extend an equal length.
  8. 8
    As appropriate, knot the two ends of the drawstring or tie them together to prevent them from slipping through again.

Community Q&A

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  • The end of my drawstring is frayed, making it hard to use the safety pin. What can I do?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Make a knot at the frayed end of the drawstring and insert the safety pin behind the knot. You can also buy a cheap toothbrush with a hole at the end of the handle, break the head, smooth it with an emery board, and pass the string through the hole and use that.
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  • If you tie knots in the end of drawstrings, you can avoid this.
  • If you insert drawstrings often, look for a device called a bodkin, designed for this purpose. It is longer and more slender than a safety pin and it will do the job faster and more easily. It looks like a pair of tweezers with teeth and a ring to pinch them shut. You will find them in a shop that sells sewing supplies.
  • If you are sewing the casing, an alternative is to sew it with the drawstring in place, thus saving yourself the work of threading it through. Just be careful not to sew the drawstring to the casing.
  • When the drawstring is pulled through and centered, in the center of the back of the item, stitch through the casing and drawstring to secure the drawstring and it will not pull out again.
  • If you are sewing the casing, make it and the openings a little wider than the drawstring will require, so that you'll have space for the safety pin or bodkin.
  • If the drawstring is only pulled partway into the casing, you might only need to reach into the hole with a pair of tweezers to grab it and pull it back through.
  • If you're feeling especially lazy, straighten out an old coat hanger (the wire kind) and insert it through the entire casing. Tape the drawstring to the hanger and pull on the other end. Voila!
  • Sometimes when you try to get the safety pin past seams in the casing, the pin will get caught under the edge of the seam allowance. Pull the safety pin back a little bit and maneuver it over the edge of the seam allowance.
  • A length of elastic as the center of the drawstring itself makes a more comfortable garment.
  • Use the largest safety pin you can find. A shorter one will work, but it will take you longer.


  • Be careful of the sharp point on the safety pin.

Things You'll Need

  • A large safety pin or diaper pin.
  • Article with an appropriate casing needing a drawstring
  • Drawstring

Article Info

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