Any ideas on how to get the string back through an elastic waist band or hooded sweatshirt? In this case the string was pulled out of my bikini top and I CAN NOT get it back through.

Nicole, January 2007

I used a bobby pin for the string to my bikini top. Tied the string onto the bend of the bobby pin and pulled it through little by little.

Belle, June 2011

The string came out of my gym shorts in the wash. I tied a paper clip to one end of the string, and pushed the clip back into the hole. The clip gave me something to work through with my fingers. Took me a couple of minutes to push the clip all the way around the waistband.

To prevent this from happening again, I tied two big knots at either end of the string.

calvin, June 2010

Get a wire hanger, thread it through the hole, attach the string (safety pin or whatever), and pull it through gingerly.

Michelle, October 2008

Get a hard but flexible wire (small enough to fit through hole) like those used for clotheslines before, and bend one end so as not to damage the material and bend the other end where you attach the clothespin which is attached to the string. Put in wire through and the string will follow. This is for small-holed garments.

vip malixi, July 2007

You fasten a safety pin to the end of the string put it in the hole and push the material onto it like a concertina,hold the front of the pin in one hand and pull the material over the string,keep going bit by bit until the safety pin comes out the other end.

Anon, January 2007