Since the next step of my project is doing 31 lacing holes (:sob:), imma teach y’all how to make lacing holes ✨the historical way✨!
You will need:
Thread of the right colour
Needle
An awl that goes at least as big as you want ur hole
Scissors
I recommend a long thread (I use a lil over a metre), doubled up and knotted at the ends. (It’s one of the only times I’ll do this method of threading).
Start by gently inserting the awl into the fabric. You’re trying to simply push the threads aside, not break any, so make sure the initial insert is careful. (Think of it as sliding your dagger gently between you soon-to-be-dead lover’s ribs with tears glittering in your eyes, as opposed to just violently stabbing them in the back. Be! Gentle!)
Once the initial stab has occurred, firmly slam that awl home, until your hole is as wide as you want it. You’ll probably need to twist and wiggle the awl around a lil to really get it in there.
Remove awl. Congrats, you made a hole. Be careful because this hole doesn’t like being a hole, and in fact would rather return to being normal fabric thank you very much.
Insert your needle. See how my hole isn’t remaining nice and big for long? It’s fine, that happens. Simply ignore it, and make sure where you’re inserting your needle is where you want the hole edge to be. If you need to, reinsert your awl and give it a wiggle.
For the second stitch, insert your needle a little to the left of the initial stitch. Before you draw it tight though, insert your needle back through the loop made. This will create a blanket stitch effect around the lacing hole. Pull tight.
Continue doing this stitch around the hole. Don’t worry about it being too dense, we’ll do a second pass. This is just to get the hole to keep being a hole (as you can see in the above picture, where I’ve stitched is starting to accept its fate as a hole, but where I haven’t it’s still trying to go back to its original shape. I’m about to reinsert the awl bc it’s getting ridiculous xD).
Once you’ve made one complete “pass” of the hole, I recommend popping the awl back in for one final wiggle to check it’s the size you want it to be. Then, go for a second pass with the same stitch, filling in the gaps. It doesn’t have to be solid (and keep an eye on how much thread you have - leave enough to bind off!!), but it should be pretty close together.
(Yes this is a second lacing hole - I forgot to take a photo the first time around. Don’t @ me about it)
Bind off by doing the same stitch in one place a few times, and huzzah! You have made a lacing hole. It looks something like a very tiny cursed portal to the backrooms on the back, but on the front side of the garment it should be a pretty little circle of thread :))
Also it took me I think four?? tries before I made a successful lacing hole, so maybe practice with some scrap fabric first.
I hope some peeps find this tutorial helpful! As always, my inbox is open for questions 😄
Now, time to go finish the other 29 lacing holes. (*sobs*)
