This look features a strikingly large pink bow, tied around the body, drawing inspiration from the concept of a straitjacket. The bow serves as a powerful commentary on the restrictive pressures women face to always appear attractive, desirable, and presentable. The oversized, constricting nature of the bow contrasts with its traditionally feminine and delicate color, symbolizing the tension between societal expectations and personal freedom & autheticity.
The Strait Bow
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I started off by knitting all the panels of the bow with the interlock stitch technique.
The bow itself took me around 10 thousand rows.
I then quilted the knit, filled it with fibre fill to make the bow stiffer and added lining.
when trying it oon for the first time I saw that the wings of the bow were too heavy so they drooped down.
So I found the solution of adding hooks which I could hook into the scarf so the bow would stay up perfectly.
I embroidered the title on the middle piece to add some statement in the middle and also decided to make the middle piece bigger and chunkier.
The yarn I used was a 1kg cone I ordered specifically for this.
By the time I got to the second end piece of the bow I had run out of yarn completly.
Luckily I still had this one discarded piece I made a mistake in lying around so I unraveled and reconed everything I had and just managed to finish the second end of the bow.
The ends I filled with a bit more fibre fill that the bow to give it more thickness, and then quilted it after they were filled for more depth.
Due to running out of my original yarn I had to change plans about the skirt.
I did some trial drapings of using the lining fabric as a qkirt vs another skirt I have knitted of the same yarn just in a different color.
I preferred the lining version as it fit perfectly with the outfits, when the knitted skirt just looked slightly out of place.
I decided to keep the knitted skirt to use it for styling somewhere else.
The skirt I made out of the lining I filled with fibre fill and then quilted. I draped it on both ends to give it that tied with a bow look. I decided to close it with lacing as it is a non stretchy material.
I then added a bow made out of the lining to cover it.
I am really happy with how it turned out and think that the styling could even elevate this look more.
I am thinking of chunk platform sandals, stockings with a rib of the leftover yarn and jewellery that maybe gives a rougher contrast to this sweet look.
technical drawings