One Handed Lacing

Notes

• The concept is that shoes have the most tension at the top of the lacing and very little at the bottom. With the stopper-knot holding the bulk of the tension at the top end, the friction of the shoelace passing through every eyelet is sufficient to stop the bottom end from slipping out even though it is “loose”. This concept works best with either small eyelets or fat shoelaces.

• To tighten, start at the top of the lacing and work towards the bottom. To loosen, start from the bottom of the lacing and work towards the top.

• If having the stopper-knot inside the shoe is uncomfortable, position it on the outside by feeding the knotted shoelace into the top right eyelet. Alternatively, you can feed the shoelace through the eyelet and then tie the lace back onto itself. In other words, knot the shoelace onto the eyelet (as seen in the second photo below).

• For a tighter, more secure fit, substitute either thicker shoelaces or cotton shoelaces with a rougher surface.

• For greater security, the loose end may be passed a second time through the bottom right eyelet (or any convenient eyelet). Because this eyelet ends up with two passes of shoelace, it will be quite a tight fit, which will stay pretty secure.

• For maximum security, pass the loose end back out through the top left eyelet, then tie it off with a simple loop knot as shown in the One Handed Shoelace Knot.

• A decorative way to use up the excess length of the loose end is to weave the shoelace up and down through the horizontal sections, forming a woven mat (as seen in the third photo below).

• This method is asymmetrical. Lacing the left and right shoes in reverse (flipped horizontally) creates a symmetrical looking pair.

• This illustration, taken from a 1929 book “Scouting for Boys” and sent to me by Alex, shows a very similar method: “Shoe Laced in the Scout's Way”. Although it's not meant specifically for one hand, it can be used exactly the same way, and could be considered a variation of One Handed Lacing. The main difference is that it starts at the bottom, then runs diagonally to the top before continuing as above.