Dye

[Gawa]

Found this picture on a web site and fell in love with the over all dye job. Would love to know how to accomplish it.I did give several attempts to no avail.Would love any imput.Thanks Gawa

[CitizenKate]

Hi Gawa,

You could accomplish that look using the method shown here:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2712

Kate

[UKRay]

Gawa, I would agree with Kate that her dye method would work well, but I tend to use a variation on this method because IMHO it is quicker and works better in a production setting where I have twenty items to dye and not one very special one. Try it and see if it works for you.

I begin by dying the background color (normally the lighter colour) with either a sponge, dauber or soft cloth depending on size. When I get to areas that need to be a different colour I overlap into them by a half-inch or so. The trick is not to make the overlap area too dark so a single coat of dye is usually enough.

To get the contrasting color over the embossed sections I start by cutting an approx. 12" square of cotton T-shirt material (good job I'm extra-large!) and wadding it tightly to form a hard pad. I then place the pad on the opened dye bottle and invert so the pad gets a shot of dye. I don't want it too wet as that would mean the dye would run into the embossed pattern, in fact I often blow on the pad to evaporate off some of the moisture. I then start at the edge of the work and gently (using an almost dry pad) start to rub the dye onto the work where I want the color to appear. I generally start at a place that doesn't have any embossing to be sure the pad is dry enough before progressing to the embossed section.

To get a nice dark colour simply rub harder so more dye hits the work. To get the faded look around the edges just rub more gently.

It really is as simple as that. Take your time and experiment.

Ray

[Gawa]

Hi Gawa,

You could accomplish that look using the method shown here:

http://leatherworker...?showtopic=2712

Kate

WOW CitizenKate that was so very nice of you for that, Many Thanks.Gawa

[Gawa]

Gawa, I would agree with Kate that her dye method would work well, but I tend to use a variation on this method because IMHO it is quicker and works better in a production setting where I have twenty items to dye and not one very special one. Try it and see if it works for you.

I begin by dying the background color (normally the lighter colour) with either a sponge, dauber or soft cloth depending on size. When I get to areas that need to be a different colour I overlap into them by a half-inch or so. The trick is not to make the overlap area too dark so a single coat of dye is usually enough.

To get the contrasting color over the embossed sections I start by cutting an approx. 12" square of cotton T-shirt material (good job I'm extra-large!) and wadding it tightly to form a hard pad. I then place the pad on the opened dye bottle and invert so the pad gets a shot of dye. I don't want it too wet as that would mean the dye would run into the embossed pattern, in fact I often blow on the pad to evaporate off some of the moisture. I then start at the edge of the work and gently (using an almost dry pad) start to rub the dye onto the work where I want the color to appear. I generally start at a place that doesn't have any embossing to be sure the pad is dry enough before progressing to the embossed section.

To get a nice dark colour simply rub harder so more dye hits the work. To get the faded look around the edges just rub more gently.

It really is as simple as that. Take your time and experiment.

Ray

UK Ray, Thank You. Very much for the write up it helped me so much. As always still learning.Gawa