20 Featured Eyelet and Lace Stitches: A Complete Guide for Knitters and Embroiderers
Few things in the textile arts carry the quiet drama of a well-placed hole. Eyelet and lace stitches work their magic through deliberate absences — yarn overs, drawn threads, and carefully arranged openings that catch light, create texture, and transform fabric into something that feels almost architectural. Whether you’re a knitter working your first lace shawl or an embroiderer searching for ways to add delicate detail to table linens, mastering eyelet and lace stitches opens a world of creative possibility that never goes out of style.
This guide walks you through 20 of the most beautiful, versatile, and widely used eyelet and lace stitches in the craft world. For each one, you’ll find a description of how it looks, how it works, and where it shines most brightly in finished projects.
What Are Eyelet and Lace Stitches?
Before diving into the stitches themselves, it helps to understand what sets them apart from other decorative techniques. Eyelet stitches create small, individual holes in fabric — whether through drawn-thread embroidery, punched eyelets, or yarn-over increases in knitting paired with corresponding decreases. Lace stitches build on this principle but repeat or connect those openings in a pattern, creating a mesh-like or airy structure across a larger area.
In knitting, lace is worked by making yarn overs (which create new stitches and holes) and balancing those increases with decreases, keeping the stitch count consistent. In embroidery and needlework, eyelet and lace effects are achieved through satin stitch surrounding a hole, withdrawn threads, or needle weaving. The result across both disciplines is fabric that breathes, drapes beautifully, and carries a timeless elegance.
1. Simple Eyelet Stitch (Knitting)
The simple eyelet is where most lace knitters begin. You work a yarn over followed by a knit-two-together or slip-slip-knit decrease on the same or following row. This creates a single, clean hole surrounded by smooth stockinette fabric. It’s the building block of virtually every other lace pattern, and its simplicity makes it ideal for adding subtle detail — think eyelet rows on baby garments, or a single line of eyelets as a drawstring channel in a hat or bag.
2. Broderie Anglaise Eyelet (Embroidery)
Broderie Anglaise, which translates literally as “English embroidery,” is one of the most recognizable forms of eyelet embroidery in the world. Each eyelet is formed by making a small slit or hole in the fabric (using a stiletto or awl), then working overcast or buttonhole stitches tightly around the edge to secure it and create a smooth, raised border. The eyelets are arranged in patterns — flowers, leaves, teardrop shapes — and the overall effect is airy yet refined. Broderie Anglaise appears on heirloom baby clothes, Victorian blouses, and cotton summer dresses, and it remains one of the most requested decorative embroidery techniques in bridal and christening work.
3. Yarn Over Eyelet Row (Knitting)
Rather than placing single eyelets strategically, an eyelet row places a series of evenly spaced yarn-over decreases across an entire row of knitting. The result is a horizontal band of holes that adds visual rhythm to a plain stockinette or garter stitch fabric. Repeated at regular intervals, eyelet rows create a fabric that looks structured yet delicate — commonly used for ribbon threaded through baby clothes, tie waistbands, and decorative yokes on sweaters.
4. Filet Lace Stitch
Filet lace is a grid-based lace worked in crochet or needlework where solid squares and open mesh squares are combined to form patterns — often pictorial ones like flowers, animals, or geometric motifs. In crochet filet lace, open squares are made with chain spaces and double crochets, while filled squares are made with double crochets worked closely together. The contrast between the solid and open areas creates images that read almost like pixel art. Filet lace panels are traditional in household linens, curtains, and table runners, and the technique translates beautifully to modern geometric designs.
5. Feather and Fan Stitch
Also called “Old Shale,” the Feather and Fan stitch is one of the most beloved lace patterns in knitting. It creates a wave-like texture through alternating clusters of decreases and yarn overs, producing a rhythmic scalloped pattern across the fabric. The stitch is usually worked over a multiple of 18 stitches and repeats every four rows, making it memorizable after just a couple of repeats. Its undulating, organic appearance makes it a favorite for shawls, blankets, and any project where you want movement and softness. It’s accessible enough for intermediate knitters and dramatic enough to impress.
6. Hardanger Embroidery
Hardanger is a form of counted thread embroidery originating in Norway, built around a combination of satin stitch blocks (called kloster blocks) and drawn or cut thread work. Once the kloster blocks are stitched in pairs around a grid, threads are carefully cut and withdrawn from the fabric, leaving open squares. These open areas are then filled or embellished with needle weaving, picots, and bars, creating an intricate lattice effect. Hardanger is worked on evenweave fabric (typically 22-count Hardanger cloth) and produces a bold, geometric lace with a three-dimensional quality unlike any other embroidery style. It’s commonly used for table runners, bookmarks, decorative bands, and framed pieces.
7. Vine Lace Stitch (Knitting)
Vine lace is a flowing, diagonal lace pattern where yarn overs and decreases are positioned to create the impression of leaves or vines curling across the fabric. The holes align diagonally rather than vertically or horizontally, giving the knitted fabric a sense of organic movement. Vine lace often appears in lace shawlettes and scarves where the diagonal lines add visual lengthening, and it pairs beautifully with semi-solid or gradient yarns that allow the stitch pattern to read clearly.
8. Satin Stitch Eyelet (Embroidery)
In embroidery, a satin stitch eyelet is created by stitching a ring of satin stitches radiating outward from a central point, with the stitches worked very closely together to cover the fabric completely. When done correctly, the result is a raised, smooth oval or circular eyelet with a lustrous surface. These eyelets appear in crewelwork, surface embroidery, and whitework traditions, and they’re often used as flower centers, dot motifs, or scattered accents across larger embroidered designs. The key to a beautiful satin stitch eyelet is consistent tension and stitches that radiate neatly from the center hole.
9. Faggoting Stitch
Faggoting is a technique for joining two pieces of fabric — or creating an open, ladder-like seam — using a series of interlocking stitches that leave decorative holes between two fabric edges. In hand sewing and embroidery, faggoting is worked between two hemmed pieces of fabric held apart by basting, connecting them with stitches that cross back and forth to form diamonds, chevrons, or simple bars. The result is a lace-like insertion between two solid fabric panels, often used in heirloom sewing, blouse seams, and decorative clothing construction. In knitting, faggoting refers to a simple two-stitch repeat — usually yarn over, knit two together — that creates a vertical column of holes with an open, mesh-like quality.
10. Diamond Lace Pattern (Knitting)
The diamond lace pattern arranges yarn overs and decreases so that the open stitches form diamond shapes across the fabric. Depending on the size of the diamond (which can range from a simple four-stitch motif to an elaborate 20-stitch repeat), the pattern can be delicate and subtle or bold and graphic. Diamond lace is a staple of traditional Shetland knitting and Estonian lace work, and it adapts well to shawls, stoles, and yoked sweaters. When worked in fine fingering or lace-weight yarn, the diamond shapes open up beautifully and create an almost honeycomb-like transparency.
11. Mountmellick Embroidery
Mountmellick embroidery is a style of whitework originating in County Laois, Ireland, traditionally worked with white cotton thread on white cotton satin. What distinguishes it from other whitework traditions is its bold, raised texture — it uses no cutwork or drawn thread techniques, relying instead on heavily padded stitches like padded satin, French knots, bullion knots, and chain stitch to create dense, three-dimensional floral motifs. The overall effect, however, reads as lace-like because of the contrast between the heavily stitched motifs and the open, unworked areas of the ground fabric. Mountmellick work is traditionally used on nightgown sachets, cushion covers, and decorative table pieces.
12. Nupps Lace (Knitting)
A nupp (pronounced “noop”) is a small bobble used in Estonian lace knitting — created by working five or more stitches into a single stitch on one row, then purling them back together on the following row. In lace patterns, nupps appear as small, raised dots surrounded by the open holes of the lace stitches, creating a beautiful textural contrast. They’re famously associated with the intricate lace shawls of Haapsalu, Estonia, where patterns called “wedding lace” incorporate hundreds of nupps into elaborate floral and vine motifs. Nupps require patience and fine yarn to work well, but the finished result is breathtaking.
13. Drawn Thread Hemstitch
Hemstitch is one of the oldest and most functional of all lace-adjacent embroidery techniques. After withdrawing one or more horizontal threads from a woven fabric, the remaining vertical threads are gathered into small bundles by passing the embroidery thread around them in a regular pattern. This creates an open, ladder-like band along a hem or border. Variations include single hemstitch (gathering threads into even bundles), double hemstitch (gathering from alternating sides to create a zigzag effect), and coral hemstitch (twisting adjacent bundles together for a more intricate look). Hemstitch is commonly used to finish handkerchiefs, table linens, and napkins in a decorative yet functional way.
14. Cat’s Paw Lace (Knitting)
Cat’s Paw is a classic Shetland lace motif consisting of a central column of holes flanked by two smaller holes on each side, resembling a feline pawprint when viewed closely. The motif repeats vertically and can be arranged in vertical columns or staggered across a fabric for an all-over effect. It’s one of the signature patterns of Shetland lace shawls and stoles, often combined with other small motifs and worked on fine cobweb-weight yarn. The Cat’s Paw motif is approachable for intermediate lace knitters because the repeat is short and logical once you understand the structure.
15. Hedebo Embroidery
Hedebo is a form of Danish whitework embroidery named after the Hede region near Copenhagen, traditionally worked by women and girls for their trousseau linens. Early Hedebo featured dense surface embroidery in floral and geometric patterns; later styles incorporated cutwork and drawn thread work similar to Hardanger but with rounder, more organic shapes. The characteristic Hedebo circle — a circle cut from the fabric and then filled with needlelace stitches to create an intricate, spiderweb-like filling — is one of the most technically accomplished eyelet techniques in the embroidery world. Modern Hedebo is experiencing a revival among embroiderers interested in Scandinavian textile heritage.
16. Candle Flame Lace (Knitting)
Candle Flame lace creates an elongated, pointed motif that tapers at the top like the flame of a candle. The pattern uses a combination of yarn overs, double decreases, and occasionally slip stitches to produce the characteristic tall, narrow shape. The motifs repeat in vertical columns and create a fabric that looks almost like stained glass when held up to the light. Candle Flame is commonly used in lace scarves and shawls where the vertical repeat adds visual height and drama. It pairs especially well with handdyed yarns because the varied colorways add depth to the flame shapes.
17. Needlepoint Lace (Punto in Aria)
Needlepoint lace — worked “in air” without any woven fabric ground — is perhaps the most ambitious of all lace techniques. Worked using buttonhole stitches built up in layers over a traced design on a backing, needlepoint lace creates a freestanding textile that is entirely the product of hand stitching. Historic examples like Venetian Punto in Aria, Alençon lace, and Brussels needle lace are among the most valuable textiles ever created. Contemporary needlepoint lace is practiced by dedicated specialists, and even small pieces can take dozens of hours to complete. The result is a three-dimensional, transparent lace with intricate floral or geometric patterns that no machine can replicate precisely.
18. Print o’ the Wave Stitch (Knitting)
Print o’ the Wave is a traditional Shetland lace pattern that creates an impression of overlapping waves or scallops across the fabric. Unlike the symmetrical crest of Feather and Fan, Print o’ the Wave is asymmetrical and slightly irregular in its wave shapes, giving it a more naturalistic, oceanic quality. It’s traditionally worked in very fine yarn and produces a fabric that is exceptionally light and airy. The stitch is associated with Shetland’s long tradition of exporting fine lace knitting, and modernized versions appear in contemporary shawl patterns from designers inspired by Nordic and Fair Isle traditions.
19. Smyrna Cross Eyelet (Embroidery)
The Smyrna cross eyelet, sometimes called the double cross or leviathan stitch, is worked in counted thread embroidery by layering a regular cross stitch over a vertical and horizontal straight stitch and then adding diagonal stitches to create a starburst effect. The center of the starburst can be left open or pulled tight to create a small eyelet hole, giving it both a textural and openwork quality. It’s commonly used in canvas work and counted thread embroidery as both a filling stitch and a decorative accent, and it creates beautiful geometric repeat patterns when used across a wide area.
20. Teneriffe Lace
Teneriffe lace, named for the Canary Island where it was once widely made, is a form of needle lace worked on a circular or square template with pins to hold the framework. Threads are stretched across the form in a spoke pattern, and a needle is used to weave, interlace, and secure the threads in complex patterns, creating freestanding circular motifs that look like intricate snowflakes or sunbursts. Each finished motif can be joined to others to create larger pieces like collars, doilies, and yokes. Teneriffe lace requires no fabric ground and produces a graphic, geometric lace with a completely different character from needle lace or knitted lace. It’s currently enjoying renewed interest among embroiderers and fiber artists who appreciate its bold, modern aesthetic despite its centuries-old origins.
Tips for Working Eyelet and Lace Stitches Successfully
The best piece of advice anyone can offer a new lace maker — whether you’re knitting or embroidering — is to slow down and count. Lace is unforgiving of miscounts because every yarn over and every drawn thread has a structural purpose. Dropping a yarn over or misplacing a decrease will shift an entire motif and can be difficult to correct several rows later.
Blocking is transformative for knitted lace. A piece that looks muddy and indistinct fresh off the needles will open up dramatically when wet blocked and pinned to measurements. Don’t judge your lace until you’ve blocked it.
For embroidered eyelets, stabilizing your fabric in a hoop is essential. Fabric tension must be consistent for satin stitch eyelets and Broderie Anglaise to look clean and crisp. Using the right tool — a stiletto or awl rather than scissors — to open holes before stitching will give you a smoother, more circular opening.
Finally, embrace the learning curve. Lace stitches of every kind reward patience and practice. The first project may not be perfect, but the skill builds quickly, and few things are as satisfying as watching an intricate, airy pattern emerge from something as simple as thread, a needle, and a deliberate hole.
