11 December 2025
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Weave your own custom shoe laces

We love projects that are both practical and creative, and weaving your own shoelaces is a perfect example. Small, satisfying, and endlessly customisable, handwoven laces allow you to explore colour, pattern, and structure while creating something you will use every day. In this article, Nicola shows how weaving shoelaces on an Inkle or Inklette loom can achieve a professional finish, sharing tips that turn a simple woven band into durable, wearable laces with lasting appeal. I hope you give this a go.

Happy weaving!

Kate

Berlin-based weaver Nicola Krauthofer enjoys working across a range of weaving techniques. Using a rigid heddle loom, an 8-shaft loom, and an inkle loom, she explores weaving in many forms. Frustrated by shoe and boot laces that rarely matched in colour or material, Nicola turned to weaving her own.

“I wear my handwoven laces with almost every shoe that needs them – from gumboots to my red winter shoes. It is satisfying to choose the colour and pattern myself, and to adapt them to suit the shoe or the season.”

You will need:
Loom: Inkle Loom
Warp: Ashford Cotton 10/2 (100% Mercerised Cotton 200gm, Ne 10/2; 1696m/1854yds) Cedar Green and Celosia Orange
Weft: Ashford Cotton 10/2 (100% Mercerised Cotton 200gm, Ne 10/2; 1696m/1854yds) Celosia Orange

Here’s how:

Total warp ends: 7 orange and 6 green, a total of 13
Total warp length: 2.8m (3yds)
Finished width: 5mm (1/4in)
Finished length: 2 x 1.2m (4ft)

Warping

Using the instructions in the Learn to Weave on the Inkle Loom booklet or the tutorial www.ashford.co.nz/inkle-tutorial, warp the loom following the draft.

Warp in the orange and green cotton
Shoelace draft 2 orange, 2 green, 1 orange, 1 green, 1 orange (centre), 1 green, 1 orange, 2 green, 2 orange

Weaving

Leave a 20-30cm (8-12ins) tail of weft thread and beating firmly, weave 1.2m (4ft) using the orange cotton. Leave 30cm (12ins) of weft thread and cut.

Leave 20cm (8ins) of warp and weave the second shoelace like the first. Cut and remove from the loom.

Leave a 20-30cm (8-12ins) tail of the weft thread at the beginning and end of the of each shoelace.

Finishing

Put a loop of a contrasting thread in the centre on the end of the shoelace.
With the long, cut weft tail, wrap the last row of the woven shoelace and fringes tightly.
When you have wrapped approx. 1cm (⅓in), put the end of the weft thread through the loop of the contrast thread.
Pull the weft tail through the wrapped threads by pulling the contrast thread.
Pull the weft tail through the wrapped threads by pulling the contrast thread.
Pull tight
Cut and repeat process for all ends.
Now dip the ends in textile glue. Do not remove any surplus.
Allow the tips to dry thoroughly and cut off the fringes to create a nice end to feed through the shoe eyelet.
Enjoy your new laces!