An improved method for laser machining features in brittle materials such as glass 8 is presented, wherein a tool path 10 related to a feature is analyzed to determine how many passes are required to laser machine the feature using non-adjacent laser pulses 12. Laser pulses 12 applied during subsequent passes are located so as to overlap previous laser spot locations by a predetermined overlap amount. In this way no single spot receives excessive laser radiation caused by immediately subsequent laser pulses 12 being applied adjacent to a previous pulse location.