Fetish, bondage and fetish fashion stream from various resources

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!

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. 

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. 

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. 

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...

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. 

Tightest arm pockets I've ever made. Two-layered hood with foam padding. Laced and zipped rear closure. It's one dark, lovely ride. 

A stunning pictorial by Mert and Marcus for Italian Vogue's 2015 China issue featuring Fei Fei Sun. You can see the whole set here on Asian Models Blog. I think I'm ready for total Asian domination. Yes, please! 

In this post I'll attach the padded hood to the butterfly straitjacket, finish setting the rear zipper and lacing panel in place. We left off with the outer hood wrapped over the inner hood and foam inter-layer. Unfortunately, as good as this looks, I skipped a step. We really should sew the collar to the outer hood before stretching it over the form. 
So, off with the outer hood, and let's take care of that collar, shall we? Align the collar on the centerline, and clip in place for sewing. 
I find this much easier to do on the post-bed sewing machine, both for the initial stitching, and the topstitching. It allows the hood to keep it's shape while going through.
 It would have to be flattened out a bit to go through the flatbed. And at this stage, I don't want to pull that foam or inner hood out of alignment. (Making closed shapes like this is exactly why I spent the money to buy a dedicated post-bed machine.)
Once the collar is attached the inner and outer hoods are clipped together at the rear. I topstitch all around this opening, tying the two hoods together, and locking the foam parts in place. 
You can see in this photo a 1" gap at the rear, created to allow the lacing strip to fit nicely in the rear of the hood. 

Everything looking nice at this stage. 
Now I want to cut all the long strips to complete the project. There are four: one lacing strip, the edge-band for the waist, the zipper tongue, and lacing panel tongue. 
I managed to squeeze this entire project out of a 20 square foot remnant. But I did end up having to piece together some of these long strips from shorter pieces. I would recommend more like 30 to 35 square feet for a project like this, to have no seams, and have better choice when it comes to placing parts on the hide. 
Now it's time to clip the hood to the body of the straitjacket. Once sewn, those seams get glued and flattened. 
And we have a nice looking attached hood!
I love this jacket. It's so fun to see the project come together...
Now for the rear zipper/lacing panel. This technique is evolving for me, and lately I've been using double-sided tape to hold parts together during sewing. It can really help with parts like this, where you have multiple pieces held together with one row of stitching. Here we have (from top to bottom) the lacing strip, the zipper, and the part that will become the tongue on the lacing side. 
I first put down a line of double-sided tape on the lacing tongue. 
The zipper is attached to that, and a second line of tape is laid down on the zipper to hold the lacing strip in place. 
I sew a small tab of leather to the end of the zipper. It acts as a stop, and gives me something to sew through when setting the zipper into the hood. 
The lacing strip (which has been skived down to taper near the end) is held in place with the double-sided tape. This whole sandwich of lacing strip, zipper and lacing tongue are all run through at one time, sewing them all together. 
The strip we create will get sewn in to the rear of the jacket, but I'm following my usual technique for locking the strip into the rolled edge. To do this, I have to start the rolled edge, and insert the strip half-way through. 
I can post a more detailed description of that if anyone's interested...
Our lacing/zipper strip gets some double-sided tape to hold it in place during sewing. 
I tend to do a strip along the top as well, to keep it properly aligned during sewing. 
After sewing the strip in place, this is the final result: A zipped, laced rear opening. 
The lacing is great for adjusting the tightness and intensity. The zipper makes getting in and out a lot quicker and easier. 
And, you'll be happy to note that I did provide a breathing hole. 
That about wraps up this project folks. Thanks for following along! 

Time for some real-world testing…

In this post I'm going to take you through my process for making a foam-padded hood. This is actually two leather hoods: one inside the other with a foam layer in between. The foam provides both an overall tightness, and adds to the sensory-deprivation of the poor victim/lucky slave trapped inside. Also, it looks really cool! Let's get started. I begin with my foam pattern parts, cut out from the same pattern I use for the outer hood. It's about 1" thick, cut out with scissors. 
 There's a front panel for the face, two side panels and two rear panels. 
 There's an offset pattern for this project, as this hood is going to attach to a butterfly straitjacket which will have both a zipper and lacing closure. There is about a 1 inch allowance for the lacing strip. More on that later...
 I layout my parts on the outer leather, which is a 1.2mm thick soft cow hide. 
 Here you see all the parts for the outer layer. Kind'a forms a funny-looking face. 
 For the inner hood, I'm using the classic four-panel pattern that can be found here, made in a soft lamb leather (about 0.7mm thick). I'll only use the front and rear panels (no tongue parts) as the tongue will be created for the entire jacket, not just the hood. More on that later too...
 The weirdest thing about this inner hood is I'm going to build it inside out. I would normally have the seam on the inside of the hood. But since I don't want the seam to press on my slave's pretty little face, I'm going to make the seam on the outside of the hood. 
 This isn't usually possible, as it would look kind of funny to have the seam on the outside. 
 But since the "outside" of this hood is going to be hidden by a layer of foam (and the outer hood), it's the best way to go. I had to really be careful, because I'm so used to the suede side of the workpiece being the one facing out during sewing. All the marks for the pattern were traced on the "good" shiny side of the leather as well. 
 So here I'm done with sewing the inner hood together. 
 With the funny seam allowance sticking out all over...
 But it's nice and smooth on the inside. She's going to love it! 
 I decide to trim the seam allowance to a bit more than 1/8". 
 I put it on the hood form. 
 And from here I can brush on some glue along the seams. 
 I gently pry the seams apart (a stitch ripper helps)...
 ...and flatten the seam all along its length. 
 And here she is all smoothed out. 
 It should feel nice and smooth on the inside. 
 Now for the foam parts. These get hit with a generous coat of spray-adhesive. 
 I decided to spray the inner leather hood as well: I don't want anything moving around once the foam is in place. 
 Plus, it has to stand up to the (pretty tight) outer leather hood being pulled over it. There's a lot of friction between the foam and the leather, so don't skimp on the adhesive. 
 I start with the face piece. This has a center alignment mark from the pattern, which helps make sure it's in the right place. 
 Next, I add in the side panels, being sure to tuck the edges in so the surface is nice and smooth. 

 There's also a dart in the back of the side panels to help it create the cup or bowl-shape of the base of the skull. 
 Coax the foam around, and you can make the seam and dart pretty much go away. 

 It takes some trimming, but the rear foam panels are positioned last. 
 We have a good-looking foam-covered hood at this point. Every thing tucked in, and seamless, ready for the outer heavy leather cover. 

 This is the trickiest part of the whole operation: get the tight outer hood over the foam without pulling anything out of place. It's a really tight fit, so I'm glad I used all that spray glue. 
 Once it's all tugged and pulled into position, I'm pretty happy with the way it is looking. That smooth curved contour is really nice and sculptural, and the contrast between the big head and tiny neck is really sexy. 
 Can't wait to see it on. 
That's it for now... Next time: closing the back, and adding it to the jacket.  

We all know the net is just a never-ending cornucopia of sensual images, and there are so many people better at doing image reposting than I am. But I had to share a set with you guys, because if you haven't seen 'em... you're missing something. Think of it like a current mood board, or a repository of inspirational wonderfulness. 
I always love to see what my friends are looking at too, and sammy, PSWKUA and Restricted Senses, all have fantastic tumblrs happening. Check 'em out when you have a chance. Especially if you're into tasteful and intense fetish bondage (Restricted Senses), Asian cutie pies with some very dirty minds and some potty play (sammy), and creative rubbery bondage scenarios (PSWKUA).  

It's hard to imagine, but at one time this was actually published as an ad for a business form company. Well, you have to admit: The ad does capture you attention for a rather boring product...