How to Checkerlace Skateboard Shoes Step-by-Step

Skate shoes are more than gear for skating; they are an extension of a skater’s personality. One fun way to express your unique fashion sense with your skate shoes is to try out various styles of lacing. Checkerboard lacing is a variation of bar lacing that requires two laces per shoe and results in your shoelaces looking like a checkerboard with alternating squares of contrasting colors.

Instructions

  1. Checkerboard Lacing

    • 1

      Run the first lace directly between the two bottom eyelets on the shoe, coming in from the top on both sides. Pull the lace to length to ensure it is equally long on both ends.

    • 2

      Thread the right side end of the shoelace through the bottom of the third eyelet on the right-hand side of the shoe. Be sure to skip the second eyelet and come up from the bottom on the third eyelet. This lace should then go across the shoe and down through the third eyelet on the left.

    • 3

      Run the left end of the lace up from the bottom through the second eyelet on the left hand side of the shoe, then pull it over to the second eyelet on the right hand and push it down through the hole. The lacing pattern should look a bit like a ladder now.

    • 4

      Thread the laces through the rest of the shoe in the pattern stated above—always coming up from the bottom and going in through the top, always horizontal across the shoe, and always skipping one eyelet. When done, the shoe is bar laced and can then be checkerlaced.

    • 5

      Weave a differently colored lace over and under the lace you've just run, starting at the bottom of the shoe.

    • 6

      Fold the new lace under the old lace when you reach

      the top of the bar lace structure and weave back down the length of the shoe.

    • 7

      Repeat this process until the full length of the bar laces have been checkered, then proceed to checkerboard lace the other shoe.

    • 8

      Tuck all extra laces into the body of the shoe to hide them from view.