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Tying Techniques: 8 Shoe Lace Patterns for the Best Fit

Expert Advice

Tying Techniques: 8 Shoe Lace Patterns for the Best Fit

Nov 26, 2024

If you’re a dedicated sneakerhead, you want to keep up with the trending sneaker styles, along with different lacing shoes techniques. We’re here to help with step-by-step guidance on cool shoe lacing methods you might not have tried yet. Some of the below lacing techniques can even accommodate foot issues. Whether you’re tying Air Force 1s, Converse, Vans or Jordan 1 kicks, read on about these shoe lacing methods and the benefits of each style.

The Butterfly Lace

Also known as the Butterfly Stitch or Loop-Lacing Lock, the Butterfly Lace is a great standard lacing sneaker style for anyone, particularly for children with fast-growing feet. In addition to providing increased room for foot growth, this technique tightens your shoe’s ankle collar to provide comfortable stability.

  • Lace your shoes with the standard cross method up to the next-to-last eyelet on each side. 
  • Thread the lace through the top eyelet to make a small loop on each side.
  • Thread the opposite lace through each loop and pull tight.
  • Tie the laces.

If you or your kids need a method to better prevent heel slippage in sneakers or boots, lace up as usual, and, at the second to last eyelet pair, run each lace straight up on its own side to the top eyelet, creating a small loop. Then, cross the laces and thread each one through the opposite loop, pulling tight to create tension. Finishing your Butterfly Lace off with this heel lock variation can help prevent heels from slipping out of a shoe and cut down on blisters.

The Double Lace

Similar to the Butterfly Lace, the Double Lace allows for additional room for your kid’s growing feet. The exceptionally secure lacing technique can also provide a better fit and feel for those with a wide forefoot and narrow heels.

  • Begin with two sets of short laces. 
  • Lace the bottom of the shoe’s lacing system with one set of laces and the top of the shoe’s lacing system with the other.
  • For the bottom lace, use the standard cross method, but leave the lace loose to accommodate your foot width.
  • For the top lace, use the standard cross method combined with the butterfly lace.

The Over-Under Lace

Want to create a one-of-a-kind pattern that involves lacing shoes under and over? This technique is fast and easy, and keeps laces from wearing out as quickly. 

  • If your shoe has an even number of eyelet pairs, start by threading the lace straight across the outside, and then feed it in through the bottom eyelets.
  • For odd-numbered eyelets, begin the lace inside the shoe and bring it out through the bottom eyelets.
  • Alternate directions at every new pair of eyelets. For example, if you’re crossing over on the outside, pull the lace across the top and dive into the next higher eyelet pair. But if you’re crossing under on the inside, bring the lace out and up to the next pair of eyelets.
  • Repeat this zigzag motion, slowly moving up through each pair of eyelets.
  • Pull the laces tight, and tie them.

The Skip Lace

If your shoes hug the top of your foot too tightly, you may need different ways to lace your shoes to relieve some pressure while still ensuring an optimal fit. Try the Skip Lace technique, which guards against top-of-foot pain and injury.

  • Lace your shoes using the standard cross method up to the third eyelet on each side.
  • Rather than continuing the cross method, move each end of the lace straight up the lacing system for the next two eyelets.
  • After you’ve reached the fifth eyelet, resume the standard cross method to the top.
  • Once you reach the top, tie the laces.

The Splay Lace

Want to know the best shoelace-tying style to accommodate high arches? Try the Splay Lacing Technique. This method will also help alleviate pressure or pain on the top of your foot. 

  • Divide the laces into two halves.
  • Starting near the bottom, take one end of the lace and “bar lace” by going straight across the top of the shoelace system.
  • Then, move the lace straight up to the next eyelet on the same side of the lacing system.
  • Bar lace that set of eyelets as you did before.
  • Take the other end of the shoelace and, skipping the set of eyelets you just used, move straight up to the next available set of eyelets on the same side of the lacing system.
  • Again, bar lace that side, and continue lacing in an alternating pattern until you reach the top of the shoes.
  • Finish by tying the laces.

The Hammer Toe Lace

If you struggle with hammertoes, corns, nail issues or other similar foot problems, the Hammer Toe Lace may help relieve pressure from problem spots.

  • Gather two-thirds of the shoelace length to one end of the lace, leaving one-third on the other end.
  • Starting at the bottom, use the longer end to bar lace the shoes, lacing straight across the top of the lacing system then moving diagonally underneath the system to the next set of eyelets.
  • Repeat to the top of the lacing system.
  • Then, take the shorter end of the lace diagonally underneath the lacing system to the top of the shoe and tie the laces.

The Ladder Lacing Technique

Love techniques that create a neat aesthetic? Ladder Lacing with 12 eyelets may be the most secure technique for you. Use this method if you need a way to easily loosen or tighten by simply pulling the ladder’s horizontal “rungs.” 

  • Start by lacing straight across through the bottom eyelets, ensuring the lace lengths are equal on both sides.
  • Take the right lace and run it straight up on the outside of the shoe, then in through the second eyelet on the right side.
  • Bring this lace straight across to the left side, going over the tongue, and feed it into the second left eyelet.
  • Run the left lace straight up on the outside, then in through the third eyelet on the left side.
  • Bring this lace straight across to the right side and feed it into the third right eyelet, and then continue this alternating pattern and tie. 

If you plan to try Ladder Lacing with 12 eyelets for no-tie laces, simply thread each lace end through a lace lock, pull to create the desired tension, and secure the lace locks under the shoe’s top eyelets.

The Ukrainian Lacing Technique

Do your shoes frequently come untied? If so, the Ukrainian shoe lacing pattern can help with that. This different way to lace your shoes provides a snug fit without double knots and trailing laces.

  • Begin at the top, and lace straight across on the inside and out through both sides.
  • Leave a long loop — about 4 inches — on each side. You’ll use these loops to pull the lacing tight and complete the knot.
  • Tie a left-over-right-starting knot before feeding the ends through the second-from-the-top eyelets.
  • Cross the ends and feed each side through the next eyelet. Repeat until you reach the bottom.
  • After reaching the bottom, tie a stopper knot and lock the ends. This prevents them from pulling out of the bottom laces.

There’s no one “right” way to lace your shoes, so feel free to get creative! Browse our Hibbett Unboxed blog for more sneaker style inspo, which includes customizing sneakers as a unique gift.

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