Apron strings

the strings on an apr-n, used for securing it around one’s person.
tie to someone’s apr-n strings, to make or be dependent on or dominated by someone:
he has never married because he’s tied to his mother’s apr-n strings.
historical examples

miss honey made an obedient sn-tch at caroline’s apr-n strings, and darted forward with a long roll of her skates.
mcclure’s magazine, vol. xxxi, no. 3, july 1908. various

apr-n strings are coming into fashion the bluer the better hey, prince?
rose in bloom louisa may alcott

a girl of eight, and tied to the worthy ann’s apr-n strings!
the clammer and the submarine william john hopkins

tie him to your apr-n strings and lead him to bang-up hotels?
the blind lion of the congo elliott whitney

but i confess it will be poor fun living at gablehurst as a little boy tied to his mother’s apr-n strings.
tom tufton’s travels evelyn everett-green

true, the daughter was tied to the apr-n strings of her mother.
villa elsa stuart henry

when they broke through the ring of witch burners and sn-tched marm perry off the pyre, her apr-n strings had burned in two.
those times and these irvin s. cobb

they are tied to the apr-n strings of the government at washington.
the new freedom woodrow wilson

eve chesley says that he is tied to his mother’s apr-n strings.
mistress anne temple bailey

as long as the other congregations were tied to the apr-n strings of fulneck they could never attain to independent growth.
history of the moravian church j. e. hutton

see: tied to someone’s apr-n strings