Several different implements go by the name of bodkin, including a weapon, an archaic type of hairpin, and two different sewing notions. As a weapon, a bodkin is a dagger; as a hairpin, it’s an ornament with a stiletto shape; and as a sewing tool, it’s either an instrument similar to an awl for piercing holes in cloth or a long needle with a large eye and blunt tip for drawing tape, elastic, or ribbon through a casing.

The needle-like bodkin is also an item of interest. It was the tool used to lace stays and bodices. A bodkin was stored in a bodkin case, which looks rather like a flat rectangular version of a lipstick container.

Modern bodkins may have several special features. Some needle-like bodkins have a ballpoint tip for ease of movement through the casing. A flat bodkin is a small metal tool that resembles a matchstick with a hole (or holes) in the end for threading. A third type of bodkin is a piece of wire with one end covered with a plastic tip and the other formed into a loop. A completely different style of bodkin is fashioned like a miniature tongs with gripping teeth on its ends to grasp the material being threaded and a neck ring to tighten and hold it in place.

It may prove useful to know that in the absence of a threading bodkin, several other tools can be substituted. A tapestry needle, with its large eye and blunt tip, can serve the purpose of a bodkin by tying the material around the eye so it can’t come loose. A large safety pin can also be used by piercing the material to be drawn through the casing, closing the pin, and working it around in the same manner as the bodkin.