I’ve been trying to figure out a way to spice up a pair of black jeans for a while, and I finally figured it out. The best part about this project is that you create your own stamp with thick cardboard, making it really inexpensive. I went with my classic fave of gold + black, but of course you can go a million different ways with this. Neon on white or alternating colors, maybe?

See how I made it below!

Supplies:

– Solid colored pair of jeans (color of your choice)
– Piece of thick cardboard
– Scrap cardboard or an old magazine
– Scissors & strong craft glue (like E6000)
– Empty spool (or something along those lines)
…Several, if possible!
– Acrylic paint and fabric medium OR fabric paint
– Thin paintbrush (if you decide to use acrylic paint + fabric medium)
– Small sponge or piece of foam
– Scrap piece of denim (optional, but really useful)
– Lint roller (not required, but also useful)
– Iron, ruler and pen/pencil (not shown)

I used thrifted empty wooden spools to make my stamp. You can also use empty film canisters, small plastic containers (the one above used to hold buttons) or a water bottle cap. I’d recommend the water bottle cap as a last resort, however. Anything that’s longer & cylindrical – like the spool or film canister – will help you get firmer grip on the stamp.

1) Iron the jeans, concentrating on any wrinkles along the side seams.

2) Using a ruler and pen/pencil, cut out a triangle (or whatever shape you’d like) on the thicker piece of cardboard. When I was happy with the size and shape of mine, I traced and cut out a few more. This way, when the cardboard becomes too saturated with paint & is less firm, I can easily make a new stamp.

3) Place one of the shapes along the seam to double check that you like the size, and to get an idea of how it will look.

4) Glue the cardboard shape onto one end of a spool. Let dry.

5) On the scrap cardboard/magazine, mix the acrylic paint and fabric medium as per the directions on the fabric medium’s bottle. If you’re just using fabric paint, you can skip this step.

6) With the sponge/foam, take some paint and evenly dab it onto the cardboard.

7) This is optional, but I used the scrap denim to do a few test stamps. This helped me gauge how much paint I should add – along with how hard I should press – in order to achieve the look I wanted.

Before you start stamping, I suggest running a lint roller along your jeans, especially if you’re working with a dark or black pair like mine. This will make sure each stamp is as clean as possible.

8) Lay your jeans as flat as possible, preferably on a hard surface. I positioned mine so that the seam was laying flat as well (refer above). Starting at the very top, near the pocket and along the seam, start stamping!

Don’t worry if each stamp isn’t exactly the same or perfect…when it’s all finished, you really won’t even notice.

9) Continue stamping along the seam, until you reach the leg opening. Let dry completely.

Reposition the jeans so that the seam is still facing you, but more of
the back side is laying flat. Essentially, you’re repeating the same
exact thing on the other side of the seam. When that’s dry,  repeat everything on the other leg. So that’s 4 times total (twice on each leg)…don’t forget to let the paint dry in between each time!

I ended up changing the cardboard triangle stamp 3 more times (once after each top-to-bottom-stamping).

The finished pair. I think a gradient of metallic colors would look pretty cool, too.

Outfit Details:

StyleMint Violet Tank in Silver (c/o StyleMint), Stamped Geometric Jeans, Seychelles Mother of Pearl Heels in Black, Thrifted gold aviators (they were only $1.99!!!), Lanyard Double Chain Bracelet

Happy Friday! xo.