Mom always had safety pins on her apron or on her everyday clothes. The reason??? Well, she took them off clothes going into the laundry, had them at the ready when needed, and other than that I really don't know I just know they were there. Grandma had them too. I think it was a "just in case" sort of thing. I also remember mom putting them on clothes coming off the line that needed mending. Those went into a separate pile by her chair so that she could mend them at the end of the day.