Technique Tuesday: Rope Corsetry

So - I have this thing about rope.  It's hot, I like how it feels, I like how it smells, and I like playing with it.  Now playing with it can come in lots of flavors, just working it in my hands, tying knots, tying practice knots around myself, and tying knots around people.  I prefer the tying knots around people as much as possible, but sometimes that just isn't practical.

I'm not an expert, not by a long shot - I couldn't tell you the different between two different kinds of knots other than to say 'Hey I can tie that, its cool' and 'wtf, how did you do that?'.  Usually when I ask the second question I get a demonstration, usually once I tie a knot myself a few times it sticks in my brain and I can use it when I need to.

Where does my love of rope stem from?  I love working with my hands.  My girl usually giggles when I say stuff like that and tells me I have 'magic' in my hands, or some other such thing.  It's cute, and she's adorable - and its the truth.  There is just some kind of satisfaction I get after having put something together with my hands, when I can step back and admire my 'work'.  I dunno how to describe it, it isn't solely satisfaction, part of it is 'this is my art' and part of it might be 'thats my girl all tied up'.  However you slice it - I just like doing it.  I even like just sitting around trying to get a cuff knotted properly around her ankle that I've been working on for a while.

Anyway - onto the actual subject of the post.

I had been looking at some breast bondage, different kinds of halters and harnesses and I found one that I really liked (by TKB I think).  It was designed to immobilize the arms behind the back in addition to being a halter, but I figured I could skip that and modify it a bit to get what I wanted out of it.

Best part? - the breasts

We have a play party coming up this weekend, and I got the idea that for 'fetish' wear I could tie a rope corset on my slave and she'd be all set to go.  Never having done a corset before I did some looking online for the right kind of design - I found a few that had a 'quick release' built into them, but that required shoving a knitting needle through the knots and I just didn't like the overall look of it.  Since I was planning to have her wearing it long term, comfort, as well as aesthetics were important.  If she needed a quick release, wearing it out of the house was probably a bad plan anyway.

Just as an aside - we've done this kind of intricate bondage before and she's worn it for extended periods so I'm less concerned about her 'freaking out' while tied up and me having to cut her out of it.  If you're just getting started in this that's something you have to watch for, keep a pair of heavy scissors handy and don't be afraid to 'waste' all that rope chopping her out of it if things start to go badly.  Safety is more important than your kink (Unless Safety is your kink, then you're all good).

So - I actually discovered that corsets were pretty easy.  Once you get a harness in place (it can be any harness) you just loop through your byte and start wrapping.  Each wrap loops through the last 'byte' and you get a nice crisscross pattern all down the front.  In the back you have a clean smooth rope line.  Fantastic.  So we went to the store and bought about mmm, 250ft of rope.  Not fancy rope, since we're kind of broke at the moment, but twisted nylon and some clothesline (3/8 inch).  I liked the look of the 3/8 on her, I had considered the 1/2inch as well, but I wanted to get more wraps in and they didn't have enough rope in the 1/2inch size anyway.

rear view of the harness knots

After a bit of review of the process I started on the breast harness.  She loves having her breasts cinched up, so this part went pretty smoothly.  I was a bit anxious though and had her spinning around right after dinner, so she got a little nauseous and we had to take a break.  Tip: Be a good Dom and don't spin her around like a top on a full stomach.

The harness went on nicely though, and her first comment? 'Wow, look at my breasts!'  Definitely a boob lifter, one of the bonuses of having a well endowed girl who's into rope bondage.  I used to have a lot of problem at this point doing the 'over-the-shoulder' rigging, either it would irritate her neck (especially long term) or strangle her, or both.  I discovered a 'double coin knot' that could be used in this instance to put the pressure in another location rather than directly on the body.  One of these behind the shoulders and one at the base of the throat seemed to properly distribute the tension, and we were in business.

Closeup of the corset knotting

When the harness was finished the next part went pretty smoothly.  I did some walking around her, she did some lifting her arms up and down.  When I'm doing this for real I'll pay more attention to centering the knots, but this was just practice so my 'braid' went kind of crooked

The finished product was impressive - if I do say so myself (and I do).  A few times she had gasped and was commenting on how constrictive it felt, I was being careful not to cinch it too tightly (something to watch for!) I wasn't pulling on the ends, I was just snugging it all together - so I imagine if I really wanted to give her a trip I could have snugged everything up a bit tighter.  We might try that another day at home just to see what the effect is like.

I let her sit around in the rope for the rest of the night, she enjoys the feeling and I enjoy seeing her tied up - win win.  Even with all her movement it stayed in place quite well - my knot did slip, so I'm going to find a different way to tie it off before the party.  That won't take long though - and it was almost as fun taking it back off of her, as it was putting it on.  Got a great picture of the rope marks it left behind too.

Technique Tuesday: Ropework Corset

Rope bondage has been a favourite activity of ours for a long time now.  It was one of the first interests that my Master had in BDSM, and we've had a lot of fun over the years playing with different types of things.  Usually this has taken the form of breast bondage for play, which is one of my favourite things ever, but this weekend we were playing around with rope corsetry.

The reason for it was simple; next Saturday we'll be attending a play party put on by Whiplash Productions* and Master decided that I'll be wearing the rope corset to the party.  Fun for everyone!  So a test run was in order, to be sure it was feasible and to be sure I'd be able to wear it long term.

When we first started with rope bondage, Master had a pair of heavy-duty scissors available at all times, just in case I panicked or needed to be out of it fast.  As time went on, and I became more and more enamored of the feeling of bondage, we began working on longer and longer term tie-ups, and more elaborate rope work.  As such, we were not working on a quick release corset, but one which would be knotted in place, and would take a certain amount of time for removal.  This made it more important that it was comfortable long-term.  Well, if not comfortable, per se, something that I could bear long term without whining and driving him crazy.

Being tied into the breast harness first was wonderful.  Of course, breast bondage is one of my favourite things.  There is something about feeling confined and controlled when you're still able to move around that is just extraordinary.  Not to mention that in particular, breasts - which are such a symbol of femininity and what makes a woman a woman - in confinement seems to bring about an almost spiritual level of submission for me.  It's a way of giving him the very essence of who I am to control.

Detail of knotwork on the back of my neck

I particularly liked this harness tie.  It seemed designed to make my breasts look even bigger than they are naturally, which is kind of impressive in and of itself.  It wasn't constricting enough to cause pain, just a certain tight level of discomfort that I enjoy quite a bit.  It worked up and around my neck with some beautiful, decorative knots on my chest and back.  I love it when bondage can be pretty, too, which is kind of the point of shibari bondage.  I did get the bonus of added sensitivity in my breasts, but this bondage wasn't tight or severe enough to cause restriction in blood flow, so coloration of the breasts didn't change.  This was a good thing; that kind of bondage shouldn't be worn long term, or in a situation like a play party where it might not be easy to undo myself quickly.

When the corset began, I did have a little bit of trouble.  We'd had a busy day, and I was tired and feeling a little sick after dinner, and the being spun in circles made me dizzy and nauseous.  Sometimes I really love being manhandled, but I'd already been spun a little bit for the breast harness and this was just too much.  I had to request a break.  Thankfully, Master was understanding and let me sit down and catch my breath.  There's always a risk for us in bondage that constricts my chest because I have asthma, so he's usually pretty good about letting me monitor how I'm feeling and giving me the leeway I might need in these situations.  After about ten minutes of controlling my breathing and drinking some water, I was doing better, and we went back to work.

It didn't take long to complete the corset, and to avoid making me dizzy again, this time Master walked around me to work on it. Pretty soon he was tying it off.  I loved the row of knots down the front of my body; they were beautiful and added a bit of structure to the feel of the corset.  I didn't think it was particularly tight, definitely not uncomfortably so, but I think that may have done with it going on slowly and having a break in the middle.  After it was removed, however, I had quite a nice pattern of rope marks in my skin, an added bonus that Master seemed to particularly love.

Aftermath: My Back

Wearing the corset was definitely something I could do for hours, and I was sorry and protesting when it was time to take it off for bed.  It should be a blast to wear it at the play party this coming Saturday, where all of you attending can check out Master's knotwork for yourselves.  I can't wait to be tied in again!


*You can find Whiplash Productions here on FetLife.  This is the event listing for the workshops and play party this coming weekend.  Come out and play!  We'd love to see you there.