Stitched Up: Black & Blue Jeans

Goodwill Alterations with Chanté Gibbs

Chanté is a local thrift blogger and sustainable designer. She is our inspiration and guide to exploring what can be done with some creative alterations and updates of thrifted finds. Each month she starts with a concept, shops our stores, and reworks her thrift finds into high-fashion pieces. She takes us on a thrift journey from start to finish, and it’s a great ride every month!

DIY Black & Blue Jeans

Before I went to Goodwill, I knew I needed two pair of jeans. Luckily at home, I already had black pants in my size and not too tight at the waist. My goal was to find light blue jeans that would contrast well with the black denim.

As I searched through the women’s denim racks, I found a pair of American Eagle jeans. They had interesting gathers toward the front waistband and on top of the front pockets. I loved the beautiful blue wash felt they would be perfect for this project.

How do I make it?

1. After I washed the blue jeans, I tried them on to make sure they fit me good around the waist. Since they did fit, I did not have to do alterations to the waistband.
2. I put the pants on the mat and made a horizontal line across the crotch area with chalk. Once I had a clean line, I cut along it (under the zipper!)
3. I saved the pant leg scraps for a future project. Then I turned over the piece I had just cut and focused on removing the back pockets. Since these pockets would not be seen where they originally were in this upcycle project, I cut them off and used them for a contrasting design on the black section of pants.
4. Next, I layered the light blue denim inside of the black jeans on the mat. I zipped up the American Eagle jeans and unzipped the black pants, and I made sure both waistbands lined up before I pinned them together. I also pinned the zipper on the black jeans down to make it lay how I wanted.
5. With the back of the jeans facing up, I sewed across the top of the black waistband from side seam to side seam.
6. After that I sewed the zipper on the black denim open using straight stitch.
7. For the pocket design detail: I pinned one of the pockets I cut out earlier to the front, and the other pocket I pinned to the back of the black denim pants. Once I sewed down the pockets to the pant legs, I finally tried them on.