Goldberry

That sounds like an amazing way of getting nice tints! Now I usually first antique (paste) and then go over it with a dye (only works for Fiebings which I have learned to appreciate over anything else in the last weeks while experimenting a lot with dyeing). I'll give it a try on some scrap =) And thank you for the explanation of the difference between antique dye and paste!

Haven't yet.. My batch of gel hasn't run out yet, so didn't try new stuff yet.

Thanks!

Thnx, I was actually looking for the mix between the refined and the rugged there =) I actually didn't know them! They have some pretty great stuff! Thnx!

Seems I enthusiastically started asking questions in other parts of the forum while completely missing this section! So hi! I'm Vera, 27, from the Netherlands (you know, that country around Amsterdam). Got a leatherworking course (last fall) for my birthday from my friends, which turned out to be right on the spot, I'm hooked =). I'm just starting out, but really enjoying it! I'm making mostly small items (boxes, phone cases, belts, and the occasional bag). I like to carve and tool my designs mostly. Already learned a lot just reading along with all of you guys =) Uploaded one of my first projects I made when I was fresh from the course =) And forgot: posting all my work at www.facebook.com/vbleatherdesign if you'd like to take a look

Thanks for all the answers so far, I'm using Eco-Flo antique paste (mid-brown) and Fiebings spirit based black. Though a project or two further this also seems to happen to some other dyes (not all). It's getting quite confusing.. I often want to combine the antique and the dye to get the brightness out of the dye. I like the more natural tints. Is there another proper way of achieving this? I'm often resolving now to dyeing after antique, though this doesn't seem to work out for all my dyes. (It's impossible so far for me to get a nice natural-dark green effect). It seems I'm going through a lot of trial-and-error for these things, though I hope some experience from you guys can save me a lot of time and expensive material =) Cheers

Hey all, I'm getting a bit confused in the dyes and antiques you can buy from Fiebings. I'm using the spirit based (regular) ones at the moment, since they have many more colors available for this one in my favourite webshop. Though they also sell the pro oil dye, what's you experience in their difference? And their Acrylic dyes, how are these different? does this compare to the Cova from Eco-flo? (So, more of a surface dye which gives this very bright 'unnatural' color as if you're using your leather as a canvas?) I'm also wondering about their antiques. My webshop sells two types of Fiebings antiques; Antique leather stain (Water-soluble antique finish on acrylic base) and Fiebing's antique finish. Is there anybody who an explain the difference in these? I'm using Eco-flo antique paste at the moment, and am generally quite happy with it. Does either one of Fiebings resemble this? Thanks in advance and sorry for all the noob questions.

Awesome bag! If I may ask: Did you use resist on the colors before antique? (since you were afraid of their brightness) What antique did you use, and which colors? They look so good!

Thanks for the tips and the welcome, is a great forum to learn and her inspired! I'm using veg tanned indeed. All other colorants get in very well and stay in. Before I do anything I always wet the leather (for tooling), but this probably doesn't clean amy coating you mentioned (if my leather has this, though I think it doesn't) . I often don't resist before antique, since I like how some colors turn out when combined with the antique (red and green especially). I guess this then just doesn't work for all colors and black does require sealing =). I'll try this next, thnx!

Hey all, I'm experiencing a problem with my Fiebing black dye. Often I get asked to make projects where people want my tooling to be painted black, with a bg that requires a antique or other overall color. Though when I apply the fiebings black dye first, it looks very good, until I apply an antique, other dye or even finisher. As soon as I try to do anything else with my leather afterwards, it seems most of the black dye just comes off again, only leaving a faint black grainy pattern (as if the dye has worn off due to excessive use of the product over several years). I do wait at least 24 hours after applying the black dye before doing anything else. I have tried applying the black as last to prevent this, but then it doesn't seem to dye completely, since I can still see the underlying color coming through (I've experienced this especially in combination with the red dye) and I'm afraid it will rub of on peoples clothing and such because I did not use a finisher over the black. Does anybody know why this happens or have a solution? I'm aware of vinegaroon, but here it's actually kind of hard to get by nails that rust easily (they only sell galvanized in all the dutch hardware stores), and in my experience my batch that has been rusting for 6 months now still needs multiple coats to get a nice black look (and is a bit harder to work into details then the regular dyes). Thanks in advance!