to try to straighten out silk threads only to tangle them further; used as a metaphor for trying to help or solve a problem but ending up making things more complicated and worse by not having a proper plan

(literary) messy or disheveled; appearing confused or in a state of disorder

to mess up something by mishandling it; to fail to find the right way to approach a problem and make it worse, like trying to untangle a silk thread only to tangle it further