20 Questions for PD of InSex - A Follow Up

PD in his younger days...

 What kind of person creates what PD created with InSex? What kind of mind creates so many dark, wonderful things (and actually makes them happen in real life)?

I have to admit, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. I had such a visceral reaction to the site, and it always attracted and repulsed me in equal measure. This curiosity led me to my 20 questions post of a while back. 

One of the many innovative ties from the early days of InSex. 

Someone wrote to me and said “You know, PD’s on FetLife, why don’t you just write to him?” I did, but never got a reply. After seeing the "Graphic Sexual Horror" documentary, I have a feeling I know why. 

PD's artwork

PD’s an artist. In the truest sense. He pursued his art. The line between his work, the the sex videos and content that he created and his personal life, all blurred together.

At some point there was no line for him. Models were expected to play with PD off camera, and if they weren’t willing, they would not be used for future shoots. According to at least one model interviewed, It was an all-or-nothing proposition. 

The success of InSex gave PD the cash to realize some of his darkest fantasies. To collaborate with others who worked in a range of materials - leather, wood, steel, fiberglass.

There was intense financial incentive for models to complete the shoots if they didn’t complete the sessions, they wouldn’t get paid as much as if they did. And if they quit (safeworded out) the possibility of future work (and income) would go away as well.

I came away from my research with the thought of PD and Insects as being a sort of cautionary tale. What would I do with the ability to realize whatever fantasy I had? What if I had unlimited budget, an ample supply of nubile young models who would do my bidding if I waved enough cash in their faces? What if I had an unlimited budget for making whatever restraint I could imagine in whatever material I wanted, and could use them on real flesh-and-blood models? How far would you go? What kind of dark beautiful world would you create if you had no limits?

KGB, metalworker who realized many of PD's ideas with great craftsmanship. 

I admired the intensity and “honesty” of the images on InSex. This wasn’t faked, pretend tie-up games. It was real, graphic and hardcore. But for every beautifully executed bondage scenario, there seemed to be an almost nausea-inducing descent into pain, fear and surreal horror. That was the truth of insex for me.

The graphic Sexual Horror movie covers a lot of PD's background. An early experience of playing tie up games, which led to his sexual awakening, for one.

Next, exposure to a live bondage performance in Asia during military service left an indelible impression on him. 

Pursued career as an artist and a teacher. But realized he wouldn’t achieve tenure because of the subject matter of his art. Rejected by the system, he determined at that point to “corrupt your children.”

The creation of the classic leather bondage hood is discussed...

He's very visually oriented. Very sensitive to the aesthetics of his creations. Also pays attention to fit and functionality. Working with the seamstress, they based the hood design on a prototype PD had taken apart and re-sewn many times over the past 2 years. They would keep working on it until they got it just right. It shows. 

Cool cameo by a Consew leather stitching machine in the background. 

It’s about control. His use of coded numbers for his models was an attempt to keep them from using insex as a platform to build their own following online. He didn’t want them to benefit from the exposure they got from on his site.

Was the allure of money (I won’t call it “easy money”) and promise of future work enough to encourage decisions that might not have been made otherwise?

Was the power and appeal of the site its dance on the edge of consent, sensation and safety? When all the rules of culture and polite society are thrown off, all limitations eliminated, all resources available, what do you end up creating? How far do you go?

Check out the PD interviews on Serious Images.com and Graphic Sexual Horror movie (available on Amazon). And of course, you can still subscribe to the original content here at InSex Archives. Fascinating stuff...

Leather Thickness Conversion Charts

Have you ever needed to convert leather and found it difficult to get from one measurement type to another? You know, from oz. to fractional inches for example? It happens to me all the time (especially when ordering leather online), so I finally put together a couple of conversion charts for the leather thicknesses I use the most. 

Leather suppliers usually describe their leather in oz. thickness, but the way I measure leather in the workshop is with a pair of digital calipers (which gives me the thickness in mm). These charts allow me to figure out right away that a 2.5 ounce leather will be about 1mm thick. 

There are 2 versions of the chart: one with bands marking the oz. lines, one with bands highlighting the mm. These only cover leather from 1 to 4 mm thick - that's everything from a very lightweight lamb (0.7mm) or pig leather to a very thick bullhide (3.5-4oz.). Of course, many vegetable-tanned leathers can be thicker than 4mm, but I decided to leave that for another chart. Think of these as more for light, medium and heavy-weight garment or chrome-tanned hides that can be sewn with a typical industrial leather sewing machine. 

 PDFs of the mm chart can be downloaded here, the oz chart here. I hope you find them useful!

Balled-up Restraint Design Sketches

I've started working in earnest on the balled-up restraint, project number 3 from my "Top 10" list of last year.  This promises to be a good challenge, getting the fit just right for what is a pretty complex shape, in a crouched, balled-up position. I've already created a wrap from my model, and am figuring out exactly how this restraint is going to work. 

 I keep debating how I want to tackle the arms. Initially, I was going to go with long strait-jacket-style sleeves which would buckle behind her back. But the idea of laying on top of the buckle if my model was lying on her back didn't seem like a good solution. I definitely want to use this sack in that position, with her toe D-ring chained to the ceiling. 

I was toying with the idea of having the sleeve be continuous, with a zipper to lock the arms in position. They would form a permanent loop. I'm just not sure if that's going to give my model enough room to get in and out. But, it would be very clean looking. 

As it is now, this is going to take 2 zippers for entry. One in the rear from the top of the hood, down the back and through the crotch to the rear of the knees. The second zipper would be in the front, from the knees to the toes, securing the lower legs and feet tightly in the foot pocket. 

I'm posting an old drawing from 1998, just to show how long this idea has been kicking around in my head. Obviously there are many differences in the details and specifics, but the general idea is the same: a balled-up straitjacket/sleepsack type of design. 

By the way, I wanted to send thanks to everyone who has contacted me with support and encouragement for the ongoing "Top 10" projects. It's great to know there are people out there who actually enjoy following along and seeing the ideas brought to life. It does make a difference, and means a lot to me. 

Prehistoric f-suit stone carving

A few years ago someone sent me these fantastic images of a figure carved in stone from a prehistoric site located somewhere either in the UK or Europe. These are actually replica souvenir trinkets available for sale. Unfortunately I managed to lose the specific information, and am left only with the images, which I have to admit, do bear a striking resemblance to the f-suit design. 

 I love the idea that certain forms have timeless, universal appeal, and these stylized figures have a fecund voluptuousness that comes across quite clearly. Perhaps this was some sort of fertility idol? 

 The red-dipped and shiny glazed versions have an added visual flair. 

 If anyone out there recognizes the images or may know any information about the figure, could you please contact me? 

 I would love to order some of these...

You can either leave a comment (I won't publish it), or email me directly at christopherfetish{a}gmail.com. 

cat in the kneeling posture suit

The amazing cat at her master's (-EM-'s) feet in one of my kneeling restraints. This was just a quick cellphone pic, shared by cat on her fetlife gallery.  I love these two... what a couple! 

Apparently she was kept in there for about an hour. Even managed to fall asleep. It always makes me happy to know the gear I make is being put to good use. 

Fist Mitts Test Fit Gallery

So these turned out pretty nice. 

I'm happy with the fit, after tweaking the pattern from the first go-round. The test mitten in lamb wasn't tight enough, and could actually be slid off. Unacceptable! It was probably the stretch inherent in this leather that allowed that to happen. You actually may have to make something slightly undersized to get it to fit just right in your desired leather. It's the opposite of "ease" in garment making. 

I decided to put the zipper on the back of the hand, and  I love the clean look of the inside. Now I really want to do a pair with lacing instead of a zip-closure. 

 

The fitted, bulbous shape at the end is surreal-looking. Very stumpy. In a good way...

I am actually going to have to make a pair of cuffs just for these, as the tight ones I usually use are a bit too big. Ahh, the problems I make for myself...

Bondage Fist Mitts - Let's make a pair!

For a long time, I've wanted to make a pair of super-tight fitting bondage fist mitts. 

I've always thought boxing gloves had their own special appeal. Something about the way they render the subs' fingers useless, making them even more helpless. Especially when combined with additional bondage. These are going to be a sleeker version than a boxing glove, a more couture take in soft black lamb leather, with a zipper for quick on-and-off. Did I mention they'd be really tight? 

I start with a careful, fitted wrap. Duct tape over plastic wrap. 

 Sketch some keylines with a sharpie to define the pattern shapes. I'm looking for natural plane breaks, and trying to make pleasing, not-too-hard-to-sew shapes. Smooth out those curves.

 I put a piece of string under a strip of masking tape to create a kind of quick-release tab. Once the wrap is done, just pull the string to let your model out. This gets taped back up before cutting the pattern apart.

 Initially I have four parts:

 Two sides, and a top and a bottom piece. I like the way the sides are...

 ...but the piece for the top has a very pronounced cupped shape. (Shown below in an out-of-order image.) That was not going to lay flat as it was.

 So I split that top piece into 2 parts, giving me two hockey-stick shaped pieces. 5 pieces total for the pattern. 

 These all get transferred to card and cleaned up.

 And finally cut out, ready to transfer to the leather.

 It's a soft black Italian lamb measuring about 0.7mm thick.

 I transfer the pattern with a pen - nice, precise marks.

 These get cut out with about a 1/4" seam allowance. I keep it minimal on this thin leather.

 I clip what will be the zipped top panel first. This gets sewn only at the two ends (leaving room for the zipper in the middle).

 The whole seam gets glued down, prepared for the zipper to be sewn in.

 Lately I've been using double-sided tape to hold the zipper in place before sewing. It allows very precise placement, and keeps things from moving around at all while going through the machine.

 Get everything lined up... stick it in place with the tape...

 ...and carefully topstitch.

 Instead of backtracking on this delicate leather, I usually trim the threads long and tie them from the backside.

 Trim the zipper to length.

 Prep the tongue with double-sided tape.

 Position the tongue, and topstitch in place.

 This gives you a second line of topstitching on the tongue side.

 You can trim the tongue down if needed.

 Clip the bottom strip to the top where they meet, and sew that together. Glue and flatten that seam.

 Now, we're ready to sew on the sides. These get clipped in place and sewn.

 I find it best to sew the "shape" and let the strip follow along. So I'm looking at the line for the side panel when sewing these together, and letting the "top and bottom" panel follow along from below. (Hope that makes sense.)

 One side down... time for the other.

 Same deal as before: Clip...

 ...and sew, following the line on the side panel.

At this point, I use a 1 by 2 secured to the workbench to hold the workpiece in place. 

There's a bit of foam at the tip to help the hand pocket retain its shape. 

It gives me something to push against as I glue and flatten the seams. 

I just brush contact cement on the seam allowance, and flatten the seams all around. 

Turned right-side out, I'm pretty happy with the shape. 

The bottom edge gets glued and topstitched as well. 

And our mittens are done. Ready for the test-fit session.