A system for providing a drawstring for an article of clothing or accessory having a front and a back and having a peripheral surface necessary to be tightened, the system including a semi-rigid crochet layer having a braided strands of a fibrous material defining a pattern in the article having openings which repeat at a number in a range of about 3 to about 8 per linear inch in all directions, and in which the openings of the layer define a range of between about 15 to about 35 percent of the entire surface of the crochet layer and a cord braided of filaments of a material more pliable than the braided strands of the crochet layer.