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The Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep

stitch-1

SUBMITTED BY:

Jitka Pelíšková

LINKS:

(click images to to enlarge)

Outline the story …

Last winter I found myself immersed in H. P. Lovecraft's world of cosmic horror.
One character, or rather entity in particular, caught my attention immediately – Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos.
It was around that time when a pupil of mine got a black kitty which, from the first moment, reminded me of it. The chaos, the crawling, Nyarlathotep – sounds like a great name for a cat.

I wanted to enter the blouse as a part of a whole outfit and under a totally different theme, but then I realized the blouse and its construction process itself reminded me of the black kitty and the crawling chaos as well.
It has been a very long and slow process, sometimes making me enthusiastic and excited, at other times overwhelmed or confused. A total chaos, as the design itself.

What started as a "rescue mission" for a little black dress I thrifted some 10 years ago (and which no longer fitted me), has evolved into an ever-going process of adding layers, embellishments, swapping parts.
I also sourced some of the fabric from an old skirt I used to wear for our high school choir's performances, and I used a velvet ribbon that used to be a part of my university graduation dress.

There are lots of memories, emotions and feelings buried in those pieces of fabric: excitement, friendships, longing, belonging, anticipation, but also stress, stage fright, confusion, disappointment. They are witnesses to another world, long time gone.

Outline the construction…

I decided to recycle materials from garments that no longer fitted me or I didn't have use for any more, and make something completely different.
I used fabric and buttons from a short sleeveless dress and some leftover fabric from a skirt.

First I made the bust area and added a wide waistband using the skirt fabric which is thicker and less stretchy – I wanted a sturdy waistline, and I embellished it with lace. Then I constructed the bottom part of the blouse. Using the only large piece of the fabric that was left, I made the yoke, and stitched on the buttons and loops. After finishing the neckline and the bottom hem, I started working on the sleeves, gradually adding stripes of fabric and lace, sculpting the sleeves from the shoulders to the wrists, where I finished them with cuffs.

Since the blouse still looked quite unfinished and the yoke too plain, I later added lace insertions on the yoke, and lace with velvet ribbon around the neckline.

It was a bit challenging to work with scraps of fabric, sculpting and adding pieces without any specific plan. I had to learn to add lace insertions, and it was hard to add those to an already finished garment and finish the edges neatly without taking the garment apart.

COMMENTS

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6 Comments

  1. Kitty Mortensen Kitty Mortensen on April 19, 2024 at 7:30 pm

    Stunning work, I have a big weak spot for anything upcycling and I love how the dress evolved.

  2. Avatar Jitka Pelíšková on April 19, 2024 at 7:36 pm

    Thank you Kitty 🙂

  3. Avatar Jenny B on April 23, 2024 at 7:41 pm

    This is such lovely detailed work, and it looks so wearable for everyday which is amazing!

    • Avatar Jitka Pelíšková on April 23, 2024 at 7:51 pm

      Jenny, thank you 🙂

  4. Avatar Isabella Ferretti on May 9, 2024 at 8:32 am

    Love the story and the end result, beautiful blouse

  5. Avatar Lowana O'Shea on May 13, 2024 at 2:43 am

    What a beautiful creation. I loved reading about how this piece evolved over time. It’s stunning!

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