“Three eyelets on a side would be about right, I think, don’t you?” he asked Margaret.
“Yes,” said she.
Then he told her to measure, with the tape measure, the eyelet places evenly apart on each side of the slit. She marked them with a lead-pencil dot one-half inch from the edge.
“Now we are ready to punch the holes,” he said.
Margaret took the stiletto and pushed the sharp point up through the two thicknesses of goods where each dot was marked. She turned it around and around to make the hole evenly shaped.
“Some like to punch from the right side down, but I prefer to punch from the wrong side up,” Sir Bodkin said.
When the holes were ready Sir Bodkin told Margaret to get some fine white twist or embroidery cotton. Calling a large-eyed Stitcher, the King had Margaret harness him ready to begin.
“Have your stiletto ready and keep pushing it through the eyelet as you go along whipping the edge. This keeps the shape nice and round,” said the King. “Now, sir, do your work,” he then said to the Stitcher, who stepped from the wrong side through to the edge of the hole and sang:
“First run around the edge,