The Pearls Breast Harness

The Pearls Breast Harness is a fairly quick and simple way to accentuate breasts with rope. It is particularly effective for a partner with smaller breasts. 

This tie was done with a 25 foot length of rope. It can be done with a longer length or even extended to continue the weave pattern. That will also give added comfort if this harness were to be used to support weight. 

An important note to help make this harness as successful as it should be: put it on fairly tightly. The friction between the skin and rope is what helps to hold this harness in place. One of the biggest mistakes I have seen folks do while trying to tie this is to tie it loosely; it falls off or droops which defeats the purpose of this harness. Check in with your bottom to make sure that it is not too tight but harnesses on the chest can be fairly tight without many problems because of the skeletal support of the rib cage. 

A special thanks to the every lovely Anise for providing the wonderful body for me to tie on. 

The tie begins with a reverse tension  rope position placed in the middle of the back. 

In the front the rope should pass diagonally between the breasts. 

The reverse tension follows to the front under the breast that the rope initially passed over. 

The rope then diagonally splits the breasts in the opposite direction from the last rope. 

The rope returns to the bight formed at the start of the tie. The photo here shows a finger hooking technique to pull the rope through quickly and efficiently. 

The rope continues back toward the front following the original line that passed diagonally between the breasts. Note that the working rope is ABOVE the original rope. 

The rope continues to the back and reverse tensions. 

It then passes to the front. Here it passes under the first rope it meets then passes over the second rope. 

This is the weave pattern that will be formed if the tie has been done properly. 

In the back the rope passes through the bight formed from the last pass. 

Turn the rope 90 degrees and leave the loop. 

Pass the tails through the loop you have. 

Tighten the loop and dress it to look good. You can vine or use another technique to use up the extra rope at this point (there was only about 6 inches or so left)

Here is what the completed harness looks like. 

Forward & Reverse Tension Column Ties

Howdy rope geeks,

  This week we finally get a chance to walk through the definitions, advantages, and disadvantages of "forward tension" and "reverse tension" column ties. I came up with this categorization about a year and a half ago when I was trying to make sense of the seemingly endless procession of column ties that kept crossing my path. In this video, I hope to convince you that simply learning one column tie from each of these two categories should enable you to simplify the number of column ties you need to drill into your hands while still ensuring that you'll always have the right tool for any job that presents itself in your rope play.

  Happy rigging,
    ~Tracker

Leg Ladders

Here are two leg ladders - one that is decorative and the other that is restrictive. The decorative one is tied on a single leg and can be worn under clothing. Although I show how to tie the restrictive leg ladder while Tracker is standing (because otherwise you wouldn't be able to see it in the video), I recommend tying the double leg ladder while your bottom is sitting or lying down. If you do choose to tie it while they're standing, be sure their arms are free for safety.

Some helpful links:
Extending Rope
Lark's Head Cuff

See you next time!
-Lady Lux

Tying a Column Off Using Excess Rope

We have shown you a lot of column ties to be able to safely put rope around someone's arm, leg, wrist, ankle, legs, chest, etc. These ties lock off so they can't tighten and secure the body part in rope. Now what do you do with them? You might want to tie off that limb or other body part with the rope left over after you do your tie. Just in case you want to have that limb a bit under control for some reason...

Before explaining this, be sure that you have your column tie down. If the column tie you are tying collapses and tightens that is no good. If someone were to be tied to a bed for example and their wrist had a collapsing column tie on it and they were to struggle for some reason- (hopefully a fun one...) then there is the possibility of nerve damage. Basically, make sure that your column ties are solid before using them in the manner shown here. 

Another safety moment: be sure that what you are tying off to is something safe to tie to. Wrapping the rope around a bedside lamp that will get pulled off the bedside table and fall on top of your bottom (or perhaps the both of you) when in the throws of passion is no good. Make sure that it is something that can handle the strain of being tugged on. If you are using gear from the hardware store, get the good stuff. For example, don't use snap clips or cheap carabiners. They do not handle strain well. Be sure that whatever you tie to is SOLID and won't move. At best it might wreck your scene, at worst, someone could get hurt. And think about how fun it would be to explain to emergency personnel why the lamp broke on someone that was tied onto the bed...  

Also note that the ties shown here need to be under tension to work right. They can, and will, collapse if not under tension. So be sure to use these to keep those legs apart or arms over the head... 

First let's demonstrate a technique you can use with forward tension column ties. Forward tension ties have a loop left in them after being tied off. That can be used to help secure someone. 

Tie a column tie on your column. Here a Wyk'd Fast Bowline is tied at the top of the calf.

Take the tails and bring them to the object you are tying to, in this case an O-ring set in place on a bed.
Bring the rope through (or around if it is a bed leg or tree, etc.) then back to the column tie. 

Take the end of the tails and thread them through the loop left over from the initial tie. Bring the tails back toward the object you tied to.  

Put a half hitch in the tails around the rope going to the object. 

Repeat the half hitch again further down the rope. You can tie off after one half hitch, but if you have extra rope this is a way to "chew" some of it up and have it look good. Looking like a hot shit rope top never hurts...

Here a second half hitch is being placed tight to the first one, but it is being done in reverse.
This forms a Cow Hitch.

This is what a completed Cow Hitch should look like. It can be left just like this. 

Now, to add a bit of security and make it look even a bit more clean here is another trick. Split the ropes securing the column with your fingers as shown. Grab the tails.

Pull the tails through the rope. Voila! it is tied and looks pretty good!

 "But IFA Team, I only use reverse tension ties because they are more secure!" cries a despondent IFA blog reader. Never fear! There is a solution! And it works with forward tension ties too!

Tie your limb off with a reverse tension single column tie- in this case the Lark's Head Cuff.

Bring the rope to the object the column will be secured to then back to the column tie. 

Pull the rope underneath all of the bands of the column tie then redirect it back toward the object it is secured to. 

Secure the rope with a Cow Hitch. But Oh No! We have a lot of rope left over and we want to have a clean looking tie to take pictures of! What will we do?

"Vine" the excess rope around the two lines securing the column. The link shows how to "vine" rope.

As before, pull the last bit of the tails through the two ropes as seen in the first part of this.

So, what is going on here?  There is a Takate Kote tied here and on the stem of that tie a Wyk'd Fast Bowline was tied. That single column tie was tied off to an object just off screen to create tension. 

Cool huh? Both of these techniques can be used with Double Column ties too. It just didn't seem fair to give you all these cool column ties to play with without giving you one way to tie them off to things... More like this again soon!

Green Mountain Cabaret "A Foreign Affair" Rope Performance

Green Mountain Cabaret Rope Performance May 2014 from Lady Lux on Vimeo.

 Here is our most recent performance with the Green Mountain Cabaret in Burlington, VT. The theme for May was "A Foreign Affair", so we hammed it up this time with the spy theme... Enjoy!

  Happy Tying,
    ~Tracker and Lux