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. 

Some More Design Sketches...

Here are some ideas that may take a while for me to get around to making (but wouldn't they be fun?). They are a bit higher up on the difficulty scale. 

Tandem Walking Suit: Pair of girls with arms bound in front, sharing a common boot.  

Butterfly straitjacket with attached foam-filled puffy hood. The ultimate in waist-up confinement and sensory deprivation. 

 Forced Kiss hood... A pair of perfectly custom-fit hoods, sewn together at the mouth. For this I need two people who really like each other! 

 Molded ballet boot with integrated handle heel - riveted construction. Inspired by Meguca's drawings of girls encased in metal (thanks Meguca!).... 

 Super-strict Y-suit with armbinder integrated and attached hood. She's not going anywhere...

Top Ten Things I Want to Make Right Now…

An assortment of posture specific suits and restraints (or hoods) I am dying to work on right away. In no particular order:

No. 1 - Full-enclosure suit with arms in front, pockets tightly securing the legs and feet together. 

No. 2 - Classic sleepsack with attached hood and attached armbinder. Rear-entry with full-length zipper from feet to top of head. 

 No. 3 - Sleepsack in a balled-up position with armbinder sleeves for the arms and toe-ring attachment point. Removable cover for pussy access. 

 No. 4 - Boot breather head harness. 

 No. 5 - Sleepsack with attached hood, front-arm pocket and high-heel foot pocket. 

 No. 6 - Leather hood with open mouth and flame-shaped eye openings. 

 No. 7 - Sleepsack with front arm-pocket that passes through the legs. 

 No. 8 - Hood with slit eyes. 

 No. 9 - Sit alone punishment sack. 

 No. 10 - Puffy sleepsack in lamb leather. 

 BONUS! No. 11 - Lotus sack with rear armbinder pocket. 

 Wish me luck...

Lew Rubens Project - Part I

This blog has made it possible for me to meet some really great people, especially those working in the world of bondage. Some folks who really share a passion for bondage, and are working in the field making quality work commercially - who would probably still be doing it anyway if there were no money to be made at all. It's in their blood...

One of the strange occurrences is when one of these people actually reach out and contact me. A while ago this happened with Lew Rubens, who if you don't know is an incredibly talented producer of bondage imagery. I had seen his work before and was just blown away by the sheer quality of what he was making. His rigging, his ideas, and the photos he was creating are in the realm of the best work being produced today. He does the technically difficult: suspensions, underwater, complex and beautiful rope ties. His models and setups are sexy as hell too! 

So when he contacted me a while back, I knew we had to work together. Add to that he had an idea for a project that really got me going  intersected with my current obsession with armbinder patterns: An armbinder/hood/collar combo consisting of: A severe nose-only hood. *check* A strictly-laced tight-fitting armbinder (with a twist: make the hand opening so the model's fingers are free). *check* And finally, a tall posture collar to which the armbinder straps would connect to make it as clean-looking as possible. *check* And to top it all off: it would be nice if it could be made to fit Drea Morgan! Holy s***! Are you kidding me? 

He wasn't kidding...

So the sketches began. Initially we were talking about making the collar attach to the hood. But I dissuaded Lew from going that route. When you connect a heavier leather component to a lighter thinner leather, you can have a problem at the seam. 

 The open-handed innovation came completely from Lew. To me, a closed, fitted hand pocket is sexy as hell. I'm a fan of total enclosure, in case you haven't noticed. But the open-finger idea actually started to grow on me as the project progressed. It's one of those contrasting enclosure/exposure things that can add to the excitement of a piece. For me it's one of the coolest thing about working with others: finding new ways of looking at something or a new twist to enjoy. 

 The idea was to have a laced collar originally as well. But I was concerned that in the event that it had to be removed quickly, a staple plate may actually be quicker. 

That was it for the sketching. Lew approved, and we were ready to start working. 

UPDATE: this project has since been completed, and the photos of Drea bound in the gear by Lew Rubens can be seen here, here and here on FetLife. Thanks Lew! 

Prototypes for Zipped His and Hers Straitjackets

I've been busy working on a new design for a couple of zipped straitjackets... a his and hers pair. (All together now: "Aawwwwwwwww... that's so cute!") Don't you wish all couples could have kink in common? I think it's pretty great when they do. 

This design evolved from the 2-tone red and black straitjacket I did for Kevin at Straitjacketed.com a few years ago. 

The idea is to simplify the original design a bit to keep the cost under control. A big factor in a traditional straitjacket's expense is the straps. There are over 160" of straps in my typical design. Because I am making these to the client's measurements, we can go with a heavy-duty rear zipper instead. I am still going for a glove-like fit...

The jackets will both feature removable crotch straps and side loops to prevent the arms from being able to slide up or down the body. 

The most time-consuming part of this project is getting the patterns sized correctly. I have to compare all measurements from the client to my master pattern, and make adjustments where necessary. This involves lots of measuring, numbers and ultimately (unfortunately) math. 

Once the pattern is complete, I build a fit-test in vinyl. I try to get a vinyl that will match the weight of the leather I'm working with, but it's hard to get something truly comparable. I hate working with the vinyl, but for now it's the best way I've found to try out pattens before making them in leather. It's itchy and it's weak, and it doesn't drape as well or breathe at all, and you can't easily flatten the seams...

But a prototype is worth it's weight in gold (or leather at least). It can tell you whether the arms are too long or too short. Do we need to make the body longer? Is the collar too tight or too loose? Need more space for the boobies? Fit problems will make themselves known here. 

Once all the feedback is taken into account, the pattern can then be tweaked and edited, and you either make another prototype, or if things are close, start working on the final in real leather. 

 I had an efficiency expert contact me out of the blue a few months ago, (a very nice fellow) and we discussed my crafting process. He was trying to help me work more efficiently and possibly make more money by doing things faster. When I told him about the prototypes, his response was "You mean you make everything twice?"... 

"Well, not necessarily... If the client's measurements are close to my master pattern, I don't have to." Let's just say there isn't a lot of hope to get rich doing this kind of work. I have seen that prototyping is a part of the process for bespoke shoemakers and some tailors or seamstresses as well. This is why custom-made costs more, people! Well, one of the reasons, at least. 

Good thing I'm not in it for the money...

Leg Pocket Design Sketches

I'm getting ready to make prototypes of the leg-pockets, and was considering a variety of options for making the pocket tighter or looser as needed. 

Initially I was thinking of side lacing, which I think would give me the most room for making adjustments. The only thing was, keeping that side panel free of laces would give the pocket a cleaner look. 

Front-lacing would keep the side panel clean. This could look pretty sexy. 

 Or maybe (for the cleanest possible look) no lacing at all...?

Project Sketches 0513

A few sketches to share of some upcoming projects... 

Start with a long time obsession of mine: a breathing snout shaped hood or harness to which a boot can be attached. Part breath-control, part sensory immersion. For all you subs and or boot-fetishists out there who enjoy the smell of leather, hopefully the idea makes you a little weak in the knees...

There's a wood panel in my bedroom that was the inspiration for this hood design, with flame-shaped  eye openings. This is the face I see when I look across the room:

I've been working lately on refining the pattern for both zipped and laced armbinders, which has me thinking of some other variations I'd like to try. One idea: attach the armbinder to the hood, making an all-in-one restraint. This could be either zipped or laced, although getting in and out of the laced version could take a while!

Finally, one that's been on the drawing board for quite some time: a pair of leg pockets. Kind of like the leg pocket in the f-suit, but without the rest of the suit. This is inspired by all the frog ties I see on Straitjacketed.com, which look completely hot! I just want to make my own small contribution to all the awesome stuff Kevin is doing over there. 

Design sketch templates...

I just came up with some female figure templates to help me when I'm doing initial design sketches. These outline forms help me by letting me concentrate on the design itself rather than things like getting the anatomy right, and drawing out the head, torso, arms and legs every time.  

I did a front and rear view, so I could show the back side of the design as well. 

I was trying to strike a balance in the drawing between including detail, but not overpowering the sketch that is done on top of it. And I had to make her Asian-looking (of course!).

The best part is I can print a bunch of these out, and always have them handy for jotting down ideas when inspiration strikes - before the idea goes away.  

I can already think of a few variations I want to do (arms behind back, hair up in pony-tail, etc...), but for now, this is a good beginning. I like the way these make me want to a lot of design variations - it makes me want to grab a pencil and play, and just let my imagination run wild...

Design Sketchbook

There are some exciting things coming together in the next couple of months, unfortunately not all of which I can share with you at the moment. I'm actually working like a madman on a bunch of things I can't show yet - top secret. Let's just say I may have the opportunity to make some things that have previously only existed in the pages of my sketchbooks. I am hoping to complete at least 2 to 3 designs in the next few months I have never produced before and never seen anywhere else. 

The vision for these suits entails a total-enclosure in leather with internal foam inserts, some padded 2-layered designs and at least one full-suspension concept. 

These "posture" suits will ideally each be tailored to fit a specific model, so the fit will be perfect. 

There are suits in classic bondage positions I have come back to time and again, and the idea is to make position-specific restraints that both conceal and reveal. These are purpose-built, not flexible designs. Made to do one thing and one thing only. In the same vein as the f-suit, but in some cases more extreme, in some ways less flexible. 

I'm truly excited to tackle one of the most challenging: a full-suspension design, for a flying, armbound hogtie. 

 One potential design features a front-pocket f-suit instead of the separate arm sleeves. 

 It may be time to finally realize the sack/straitjacket combo in real life. 

 A hooded front-pocket stratijacket is also (possibly) in the works...

 A rear-pocket sleepsack?

Another possibility: a front-pocket straitjacket sleepsack with separate-able zippered leg pocket? So her legs can be spread without letting her out of the sack? Oh, this is going to be fun...

More details to come...