DENIM DUOVERS: Friendship and old jeans turn into unique business venture

Published 8:38 am Friday, March 4, 2022

An old friendship and a few pairs of old jeans have made for a unique business venture for Sheila Collins and Lori Archer.

The two met about eight years ago through a church English as a Second Language (ESL) class that Collins taught and they easily struck up a friendship. Archer eventually moved away from the area for a few years, but the two reconnected when she returned in 2020, and their mutual interests led them into crafting and sewing together.

It was that year that they decided to get together during the holidays and make Christmas ornaments. Archer, a self-professed “Pinterest addict,” said the project got them excited about making things together, and they soon realized they were both also into thrifting.

“I was really big on denim crafting, so I knew [Sheila] could sew, and I like to make things,” Archer explained.

The two decided they would focus on denim and from that idea, Denim Duovers was born. Together, they repurpose jeans into unique and useful accessories, truly living up to their motto — “We Give Jeans a Second Chance.”

They offer a variety of bags — anything from a cross-body type to smaller purses, and their style ranges from shabby chic to elegant and finished. One particularly popular variety they offer is the “hip bags” that Archer came up with while working on her farm.

“I have a farm and I garden a lot, so I found that most of my garments did not have suitable pockets,” she said.

So, she designed a small bag made from a waistband and back pocket of a pair of jeans that can easily carry smaller items like a cellphone, credit cards, glasses and chapstick.

“This solved my problem,” she explained. “I wear my phone in my hip bag.”

Working together, Collins and Archer each bring their own skillset to the business. Collins is the machine sewer and Archer finishes off designs with embellishments. They bounce ideas off of one another and come up with something unique and useable. 

“The majority of my input is hand-stitching and drawing, whereas Sheila’s is the meat and potatoes of how to put this into something that’s useable,” Archer explained.

“I might put something together with the machine, but then she embellishes it with her artistic stitchery and other things,” Collins added.

Archer jazzes the items up with embellishments like rhinestones, beads, buttons and even paint.

“All of them are different because each one is created individually,” Archer said.

In addition to bags, they’ve also made jewelry, mug mats, aprons and much more. One of the next projects they plan on tackling is making denim earrings.

The two recently took part in their first art show at Eclectic in downtown Milledgeville, but they both confess that they have a hard time seeing themselves as artists.

“I think it’s funny to be called an artist because I don’t see myself that way,” Collins said. “I don’t draw, I don’t paint, I don’t do any of those things. I learned to sew in home ec in school years ago, and I never saw sewing as an art. It was just something you do for practical reasons.”

Archer’s love for crafting was born out of a love of making crafts with her children. And now, it’s become an unexpected form of relaxation.

“To me, it’s so relaxing to sit with a piece of fabric and create and stitch or to doodle with pens on paper,” she said.

It’s clear during conversation that the duo truly does enjoy the work they do together, and there’s a nice reward in creating something that others can enjoy in the process.

“I do like seeing something come together from a pair of jeans that you had to cut around a stain or a rip and make something useful out of it… The finished result is rewarding,” Collins said.

Denim Duovers has items available in-store at Eclectic as well at Deep River Outfitters in Tennille, and they will also have a booth at Duckworth Farmer’s Market when it reopens in May. Anyone interested in reaching out to them directly can do so on Instagram.