Hello,
I'm a complete beginner in leatherworking, but I was recently inspired to give it a shot. I'm attempting to make a simple wallet, which I intend to dye navy blue with a white-gold coloured design on the front. Unfortunately, I live in a small city in Canada and leather supplies are quite expensive here. So, I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing before buying the supplies. Hopefully you folks can help me with that.
My first problem is deciding which finish to use. It's a wallet and going to be handled frequently, so I need something that really seals the dye. I would probably be using Tandy's Eco-Flo dye, because it's reasonably priced and available in the colours I need.
I also live in a climate that snows a lot, so I'd prefer to use something water resistant.
I've looked at acrylic resolene, which looks good for both water resistance and dye sealing, but I want to avoid anything that looks shiny or plasticy.
So, what type of finish should I be looking for here?
My next question is about combining dyes. Let's say I'm dyeing it navy blue, and I've got black and blue dyes to work with. Should I combine the dyes first, or simply apply a few black layers to the leather, and then a few blue layers, etc, until I get the desired colour?
Could I do both? Combine the dyes first to make a navy blue, then proceed to apply additional coats of blacks or blues until the I get the desired colour?
Lastly, I'm not sure what I should do about the coloured design on the front. Let's say I dye the leather navy blue and let it dry. I now want to add the white-gold design on top of it. How should I do this? I thought about using stencil paper, but if I apply the dye with some kind of brush or cloth, I wouldn't be able to keep the stencil in place.
Also, I'm not sure if the colour would turn out, considering I would be placing a light dye over a dark one. Perhaps it would be fine? I've never dyed leather before, so I wouldn't know.
I've attached an image I've photoshopped demonstrating how I'd like the finished product to look. Again, I'm a leatherworking novice and I'm not sure if this sort of thing would even be possible.
I'd appriciate any thoughts you have. Thanks!
