slalik

Eww, thanks Russ , any ideas on how to get rid of it?

LOL, thanks....I do need better ventilation, I'm lazy too, but this is well after the dye has dried. It doesn't make me cough or anything, it just smells funky Thanks- Sara

Possibly....except that it has happened on various hides, although they are all veg tanned..... Thanks, Sara

Hi There, I use fiebings spirit dyes, and they sometimes seem to leave a strange smell. Kind of a cross between sweet and fishy, if that makes sense. Does anyone know the cause/ cure of this? Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks, Sara

Holly and Josh, Thanks so much for all the advice, i've got some experimenting to do! Sara

HI Josh, I let it dry for a couple of days before I started to paint the first part, but i only did a quick buff. Hmmm...I've never tried neat lac, tan kote or bag kote, but I have tried the super sheen and wasn't fond of it. Are the others flexible? Thanks! Sara

Thanks for replying Holly! The Aussie wax is o.k. to use over acrylics? That would be great! I would much rather use a wax or balm of sorts than resoline if they won't harm the paint. Does the urethane crack at all? Sorry, I'm still a newbie and have so much to learn! -Sara

Hi all, I need little help with this. I'm making a lap top brief case using veg tan. I pyrographed it, spirit dyed it, and painted it with acrylics. When I put the resoline on the main piece, it seems as though the brown leached through. I didn't get to paint the flap portion until a week later, and the dye is no longer leaching through. So any suggestions as how to make the flap look antiqued like the main body? I also have a problem with this yellowing effect on white dyes and paints, any way to avoid it? I would love any suggestions! Thanks! Sara

But how do you seal it without making it hard? Thanks, Sara

O.K., so this is the first actual purse that i made my own pattern for, I know it's pretty basic, lol, and the craftmanship not so great, but overall i like how it's turning out. However, this is also the first time that I have used ecoflo dye(not a fan) and it keeps rubbing off from the flesh side. Is there a way to stop this? Please help!

Hi Ken, It wasn't from tandy, but I did find out that it was a split , which is not what I wanted. I'm gonna try to smooth it more, but if I can't, I'll use it for practice......unless there are any other ideas? Thanks! Sara

Thanks all! I should have been more specific....it's veg tanned cow hide 3-4 oz. the roughness isn't from a fold( I actually don't mind that) it's just as though it wasn't smoothed all the way down, almost slightly sueded in areas. I know it's not top quality( I can't afford that right now) I hope that's a better description....... I'll try the "slicking" method and see if that works!

I'm very new at this, and just bought my first hide. but it is pretty rough( grainy) on what is supposed to be the smooth side. Is there a way to smooth it down more? Thanks! Sara

Johanna, WOW! Have you ever thought about being a novelist! You had me enthrawled! In any case, I'm new to the sight and leather working, and I have to tell you i have never seen a site like this before, it's amazing, addicting, informative......and on, and on! I'm actually a jeweler/metalsmith, and I wish they had a site like this for that! Thank you so much for creating this forum!!!!!!! - Sara

Color looks great, really nice collars! I'm new to the game as well, so I know what you mean! I haven't tooled yet though, just some pyrography and paint. Keep it up! Sara

It's beautiful!!!!!

Thanks everyone! I like the stiching groove idea much better than what i used, which was a pronged chisel. sara

Thank you again! LOL, I wish I could tool! Everyone here has such beautifully tooled work!

LOL, Thanks! It's not your monitor, I'm just a really bad photographer!

LOL! Thank you! That's a huge compliment. Sara

Here's my second project. Wisdom?

Hi all, I'm really new to leather, and am completely in love with it. These are my two first finished pieces. They are a combination of pyrography and painting. I'd appreciate ANY words of wisdom and suggestions! Thanks to those who answered my scuff question! Oops! looks like I'll have to post the second project in a different post.

Thanks so much! The pic was taken pre-scuff. I just wanted to show how it was painted so that people may get a better idea of what I meant. Thank you for the idea, I'll definatly try it. I think you are right about wiping the shene on, I'm afraid that it would disturb the finish that's in place as it's water based and doesn't seem to take much abuse. LOL, I'm used to a much hardier medium.

O.k., so I'm a jeweler who has turned to leather as an alternative outlet. I'm new to the medium and recently made this purse using pyrography and painting. I dyed it using Fiebings, and finished it with ecoflo shene. I love how it turned out, but I scuffed it recently, leaving small white marks in the finish. Any ideas on how to get rid of them without ruining the finish?