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!
When I went to Goodwill, my goal was to find about fourteen men’s ties and a pair of denim shorts or a skirt. I knew it would be more difficult to find ties, so I decided to look there first.
Luckily, I found a LOT of ties in excellent condition and nice contrasting patterns. I was happy that they were all different but still in the same color scheme.
After that, I searched through the women’s denim shorts section. The pair I found was a little big in the waist, but I loved the quality, color, and length of the shorts.
How do I make it?
1. After I washed the shorts and ties, I tried on the shorts to see how they fit on me. I already knew they were a little big in the waist, so I had made sure to buy an extra tie to use as a belt later on. I marked on the sides where I wanted to cut and took them off.
2. Then I organized the ties to my desired order and set them to the side.
3. I placed the shorts on my mat and drew a horizontal line under the zipper. I cut along that line and tried them back on as the top of my new skirt. Grabbing the tie I wanted to start with first, I wrapped it around the bottom edge of the denim. Since I wanted the skirt to be asymmetrical, I made sure to lay the tie at an angle. Once I was satisfied with the look, I pinned down the tie and did the same to the next tie.
4. I chose not to pin down the end of the ties because I wanted my skirt to have a tiered effect along the side. And, I made sure the smaller end of each tie was pinned underneath the bigger ends.
5. Finally, I marked a line for my new side seam, and starting at the first tie, sewed each one down.
What was your inspiration?
I was rewatching Pretty Little Liars and saw Aria Montgomery wearing the tie skirt that trended on social media last year. I had forgotten how cute the skirt was and thought that would be a cute piece to wear for the fall. Combining denim and ties to create a maxi skirt came to mind easily from there.
Shopping Tip: Go ahead and make a full list of the items you will need for the upcoming season and keep an eye out for sales during the off-season.
