About the Monarch: it is a moderate difficulty build requiring proper tensioning, especially in the initial construction of the waist and thigh bands. It is a build that gets better with practice ~ you will discover how much tension to use and where, on which positions on your body do the frictions sit best, how much rope you will need, etc..
It is a fully suspendable hip harness featuring a pareidolic butterfly hishi pattern on the front and a net of diamonds across the back, which helps to distribute weight across the booty when in suspension.
This builds requires multiple ropes and is shown built in 6mm jute
Pictutorial:
1) Create a single column tie (sct) abutting the top of the hips
2) Ensure there is ample slack in this initial sct as we will be frictioning around this band 3 times as we continue
3) Create a thigh band with the friction positioned along where the side seem of pants would be, and pull the band up into a slight v shape, exiting to the back *we will be frictioning around both thigh bands 4 times during the build so ensure there is enough slack in these bands to account for that
4) Simple twist at the midline spine, pulling the waist band down slightly with tension
5) Continue by creating a mirrored thigh band on the other leg, exiting to the front
6) Now make a 180° turn beneath our initial knot, following from my fingertip to base, exiting above our proceeding line
7) Continuing toward the back and slightly downward, place a munter's hitch (mh) at the intersecting line
8) Booty bridge: a bridge in shibari is essentially a "broken" sct secured with a mh ~ it is a cuff with a mh in the middle which separates the cuff into 2 equalizeable loops To build: stretch your rope across the back toward the opposite thigh and move under the thigh band from above
9) Move across to the other leg and again move under the thigh band from above
10) Bring your rope over and behind both of these booty bridge lines from above
11) To finish the mh on our booty bridge, move up and behind the initial line leading to the beginning of our bridge, exiting up diagonally to mirror our mh at the intersection
12) Create a mirrored mh at the intersection exiting toward the front
13) Move under the stem
14) Reverse direction with a firm pull
15) Move under 2 diagonal lines and create another bridge this time at the crotch ~ the vertical lines of this bridge will act as the standing lines for our hishi or diamond pattern at the front
16) Build bridge
17) Exit by moving under the standing diagonal lines to mirror the other side, and ensure equal tension in both sides of the vertical bridge lines ~ and ensure the thigh wraps sit nice and flat beneath the loops of our 2 bridges
18) Move up around and behind the first side of our waist band - (on the side that we finish our bridge, to one side of our starting knot)
19) Move down and over the 2 standing lines this time, where previously we moved behind
20) Pull open half our hishi pattern by throwing a half hitch hh around our first set of vertical lines from our front bridge
21) Continue holding the tension of the opened hishi as you throw another hh around the thigh band on this side ~ ensure the thigh band sits flat
22) Continue up diagonally by placing a mh at the intersecting line
23) Place another mh on the intersecting line above as you continue back and at an upward diagonal
24) Simple twist aka hh around the waist band with the placement of the friction being about half way between the spinal midline and the last mh placed on the standing line below
25) Continuing diagonally downward, create another mh on the intersecting line with its placement approximately halfway between midline spine and the hh you just created on the side of the waistband
26) Continue down and diagonally toward the opposite side of the back and place another mh at the intersecting line
27) Create a cow hitch from outside to inside around the thigh bands
28) 360° around the top of the booty bridge with a firm pull, exiting above the proceeding line and toward the opposite thigh to mirror our cow's hitch
29) Mirror the cow hitch building it from inside to outside this time
Click here for a closer look at the cow hitch
Moving up and diagonally mirror the mh on the intersecting line you meet
Mh dead in the middle at the intersecting line, continuing up and diagonally
Mh at the intersecting line
Mirror the simple twist around the waist band off to the side of the midline spine exiting toward the front
Mirror the 2 mh on this side of the front as well as the hh around the thigh bands
Pull open the other side of our hishi pattern by throwing a mirrored hh around the vertical standing lines and pull with good and even tension exiting up toward the starting knot stem
To finish, mirror: move over two standing lines, behind the other side of the waist band, and 360° vertically around the entire stem, exiting below the waist band to either side
360° beneath our starting knot horizontally and cinch tightly ~ like a belt around everything at the front knot
Secure as you see fit ~ 2 options amongst many are: Yuki knot around our starting bight or split tails and square knot through the bight
Let's tie my favorite hip harness for self-suspension + the top vote of my recent diamond hip harness poll: The Diamond Back
This build is a sort of hybrid between a Swiss seat and a hip harness and it's my go-to for extended aerial play. It can be modified easily to accommodate different body shapes and sizes and it's an amalgamation of many different builds I've studied over the years from many great minds in rope
1-3) To begin, I will tie a single column tie (SCT) around my low waist - I can begin with my bight on either side of my body
*take note of which side your bight enters from*
4) I have secured my SCT in line with my belly button using a Somerville bowline, you make whatever SCT you prefer. I pull my SCT downward in a slight V shape
*whichever side of your body you started with your bight to build your SCT, that is the same direction we will begin tying our first leg wrap*
1) I make my first leg wrap nice and high running just beneath my butt cheek in the back
2) I friction over and behind my hip lines and my diagonal leg line exiting toward my crotch and approximately 1/2" from my SCT knot
*experiment with the placement of this friction for your individual comfort*
3) To adjust the tension in my leg wrap, I feed slack behind me with one hand and receive it in the front of my body with my other hand
4) I pull my working lines downward eliminating my transferred slack
5) I make a second wrap of my leg tracing below my first wrap
6) I friction up and over my leg lines, exiting toward the outside of my body
1) I equalize the tension in both my leg wraps and move over my inner leg wraps
2) I move behind my leg stem
3) And I move across my leg stem, ensuring I compact down all of my frictions
*you can see I've created another intentional upside-down V shape in the angle of my leg bands, and this will allow for more freedom of movement in my hip flexor*
4) I added another rope in another colour for clarity, and I mirrored my pattern on my other leg, exiting across my front and utop the last friction knot of my first leg to encourage it to stay nice and compacted
The next element we will build is a booty rope bridge which will capture both my leg wraps in a munter hitch
1) I run my line along the lower half of the space between my leg wraps and waist wraps all the way around my backside, and to the opposite side of the front of my body
2) I run my lines from tip to base of my finger, at the front of my body where I can better see what I'm doing
3) I shift my tensioned line back and under my butt cheek
4) I cut across my butt moving lower than my previous band
5) I move from tip to base of my finger again at the front of my body where it's easier to see what I'm doing
6) I slide that line back under my other butt cheek
7) I move up diagonally across both of my standing booty lines
8) I friction over and behind both lines exiting towards my crotch
9) to complete my munter hitch, I move my line from tip to base of finger again, exiting toward the front of my body
I take time to equalize the size of my booty bridge loops by adjusting my munter hitch, as well as flattening my leg wraps so they lay nice and flat like bands which will be much more comfortable when we take this harness into the air later
2) I move straight across the front of my harness running right above my previous pass
3) I continue to trace my previous wrap to the back
4) I make a simple twist around the top of my booty bridge friction moving my lines from tip of finger to base
5-6) I exit above my standing booty bridge band, pulling up slightly to maintain tension, exiting toward the front of my body
1) I added another scrap of rope in a third colour for clarity, and I continue the build by moving directly across the front of my harness again utop my previous pass
2) I make a half hitch (HH) around my booty band placing it in my natural gluteal divot
*experiment with placement of your HH here for individual comfort*
3) I tension my HH by pulling slightly upwards as I exit diagonally up toward my hip lines
4) I capture my hip lines with a simple twist, pulling downward into another slight V shape, I exit beneath my opposite booty band to create a mirrored HH on the other side of my butt
5-6) I maintain firm tension and pull these bands upwards slightly before completing my second HH and exiting toward the front of my body
1) Now we will perform a very tight weave and create a reverse half moons friction to incorporate our mid bands securely into our front harness bar. To begin, I move across the front of my harness running my lines above all of the previous passes
2) Weave from tip to base of finger
3) Continue behind the other side of my hip lines from tip to base of finger
4) I carefully cinch and compact the top of my half moons friction, careful not to overly tension my top midline pass as I cinch, and ensuring I don't accidentally nip up flesh or clothing in my ropes as I weave
5) I move over all of my midline bands, and under my leg stems following tip to base of finger
6) I carefully cinch and pull my working lines away from my flesh and leggings
7) continue behind my other leg stem moving my lines from tip to base of finger
8) I move over all of the midlines again, and back under my hip lines following tip to base of finger
9) With my half moons weave completed, all I need to do now is finish with my rope ends
1) You can finish your ends as you see fit, here I'm simply splitting my working ends and running one is them through my original SCT bight
2) half a square knot
3) the second half of a square knot
4-6) a look at the completed diamond back hip harness
Click here for a video guide to tying this harness as well as a look at how it maintains during transitions in suspension
If you give this build a go, I would love to hear about it! Feel free to tag me here or on any other platform we're grooving together on ❤️
First pic tutorial I figured to keep it simple! Do you guys like this style of tutorial?! Used the @modelspreferau sunsetter palette for this simple look! #pictutorial #modelspreferau #modelsprefercosmetics #pricelinemakeup #bbloggersoz #aussiefashion #bbloggerau #aussiemakeup #aussiebeauty #aussieyoutuber #discoverunder5k
