Person with needle and cotton maybe securing a thread? (7)
I believe the answer is:
meander
'thread?' is the definition.
(I know that thread can be written as meander)
'person with needle and cotton maybe securing a' is the wordplay.
'person with needle and cotton maybe' becomes 'mender' (someone mending with clothes).
'securing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'mender' enclosing 'a' is 'MEANDER'.
(Other definitions for meander that I've seen before include "Follow a random path" , "Snake" , "Wander about, follow a winding course" , "Wandering direction" , "(Of river) wander" .)