The tools I use, shown here, left to right: a scratch awl (pointy) and a Speedball pen holder (long and black).

One length of eyelets, three already made. The rest are, as yet, imaginary.

The same as before, shown from the inside. If the viewer looks closely, they may see the pencil marks for the rest of the eyelets.

Now you see me poking the hole with my trusty scratch awl. Just shove it in!

Next I put my pen holder into the hole created by the awl, and make it larger, large enough to lace a lace through.

You are viewing the lovely hole I have created in the row of eyelets.

Now you can barely see the far-apart stitches I've put in to keep the hole open.

The buttonhole stitch around the eyelet is clearly visible now.

You see the 'shoelace test' being performed...

The finished eyelet, from the outside.

The finished eyelet, from the inside.

"'Period eyelets?'" you say, in mock surprise. "What are these 'period eyelets' you're talking about?" Well, it's simple. Way back in period, they didn't have all these pretty binding machines and grommet punchers that broke the weave of the fabric, and actually, they didn't have very many machines at all. If they wanted to make a hole in fabric that could withstand some heavy-duty wear-and-tear, they had to make a serious eyelet. So: a brilliant idea! Let's move the fabric weave around a hole made in the fabric so that, with no (or almost no) broken threads, the added hole still keeps the weave as strong as before! Now that's what I call brilliant, and that's what they did. Poked holes, and did some nice buttonhole stitch around them.

Well, that is what I will demonstrate to you as well. This is the way I make period eyelets. First and foremost, I calculate the length of the fabric that I want to make a series of holes in, and then figure out the length apart that I want each eyelet. Let's say that I want them to be an inch-and-a-half apart, and the fabric to be eyeleted is 12 inches long. Since 12 can easily be divided by 1.5 (the answer is eight, actually), then I have no problems. This also means that I will have about eight eyelets on each side. At this point, for eyelet placement, which I can't explain without drawing diagrams, I suggest you turn to The Zen of Spiral Lacing , Jen Thompson's excellent article on lacing up the garment and, what do you know, eyelet placement. This is where I always turn. Anyway, once you've figured that out, go back to your garment and mark, in whatever writing instrument you want (it won't show at all, but I use the wrong side anyway), where you want all of your eyelets to be on the two sides that you're lacing together. Yes, all of them. Believe me, this will save you quite a bit of confusion later on. Anyway, once you've done that, you're ready to start poking holes.

You will need some minimal equipment, just to warn you: some thing sharp and pointy, like an awl (I use a scratch awl from Grannd Garb and, if your sharp and pointy object doesn't make the hole wide enough for you (like mine doesn't), something that goes from as narrow as the wide point of your narrow object to as wide or wider than you wish the hole to be (I use a dip-style Speedball calligraphy pen holder, plastic, from one of my other interests, but not quite yet hobbies). You're also going to want a needle, thread (this will show, as the binding around the eyelet), and scissors. What you have to do is simple. Use your sharp, pointy thing to poke a hole where you marked one. Push, hard. You don't have to be very gentle, at least not with the heavy brocade that I'm using. I'd be a little gentler with more delicate fabrics, like linen. Anyway, once you've gone as far as you can go with the narrow object, take it out carefully, then put your wider object into the hole, making sure to separate the loose fibers around the hole around the object, because if you don't, you'll break them, and that last thing you want is a lot of broken fibers. Push, hard, once again, gentler for more delicate fabrics. Wiggle the hole-poker if you get stuck. When you've gotten the hole as wide as you want it, carefully take out the hole-poker. Now you have fabric with (voila!) a hole!

Now you must keep the hole there (not have it close up, that is). Simply enough, do some buttonhole stitch around it. First, do about five, spread-out stitches around the entire hole, to keep the loose fibers in a circle, and not trying to work their way into the middle of the hole, where to want the hole to be. Next, do lots of close-together stitches around the eyelet. When you get all the way around the circle, tie a knot in the back and eureka! you're done! One hand-made, period-accurate eyelet. Also, you can do what I call 'the shoelace test', that is, to see if you can fit a shoelace in your eyelets. If that fits, you're in luck! Now to make the other twenty...

Also of note: there is another excellent article on eyelet-poking by Melissa Heischberg, Binding Eyelets. Her article is pretty similar to mine, and I've gained some information from it, so feel free to go ahead over to her site and read it.

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