Leather Vest Patch

[The Doctor]

Hello, everyone. This is a photo of my fifth or sixth leather project, and I'm not quite sure how to proceed with finishing it. It's about 22 inches, top to bottom, and will be a patch for a black leather motorcycle riding vest. I know the design is pretty far off-centered, but I don't really care about that. My problem is this: I think I did way too much detail in the tooling. One way to make things stand out is with a bit of color contrast by dyeing it, but I don't want it to have a lot of bright color in it. I'm really not used to leather stains and dyes, and all I have access to at this time is whatever Tandy sells. Is there an antiquing finish that would bring out the detail? I have some of Tandy's All-in-One finish...any input on how that would look?

I know, I know...practice on some scrap, right? lol. Anyway, here's what it looks like. Any suggestions are very welcome.

Oh, yeah - I'm going to use the same background tool from the edge of the design out to the border that I used between the dragon's jawline and neck. Hopefully I can finish that today.

[The Doctor]

If it helps, here's a pic of the patch with the background and stitching holes done. I guess I'm finished with the tooling...

[builderofstuff]

I like it. I think you did a really good job on it as well. Better than any carvings I've done so far. I probably wouldn't have noticed it was off center a bit if you hadn't mentioned it.

Chris

[Chief31794]

Doctor,

I personally wouldn't recommend the "all-in-one" line from Tandy, I've tried them and they don't seem to cover well and I haven't been successful with successive coats in that the "all-in-one" implies that it seals the finish while it's dyeing.

Personally I like the "High Lighter" line of dyes, they do a fair job and you can apply them till you've got the coverage and color you want then finish them with your choice of finish to protect it.

Just my $.02, there are lots of folks out here that are much better at this than I.

Ken

[The Doctor]

I like it. I think you did a really good job on it as well. Better than any carvings I've done so far. I probably wouldn't have noticed it was off center a bit if you hadn't mentioned it.

Chris

Thanks, Chris. I'm really new at this stuff, but I got into the tattoo biz around 26 years ago, so I'm pretty sure anything I do will look like some whacky tattoo. Some of the technique translates pretty well to leather, but plenty of it doesn't, either. Thanks for the encouragement.

[The Doctor]

Doctor,

I personally wouldn't recommend the "all-in-one" line from Tandy, I've tried them and they don't seem to cover well and I haven't been successful with successive coats in that the "all-in-one" implies that it seals the finish while it's dyeing.

Personally I like the "High Lighter" line of dyes, they do a fair job and you can apply them till you've got the coverage and color you want then finish them with your choice of finish to protect it.

Just my $.02, there are lots of folks out here that are much better at this than I.

Ken

Thanks, Ken,

I've looked at those George Hurst videos online, and I think you're right. The only reason I even have the All-in-One is because they gave me a cheap kit thaqt had a small bottle in it last time I went in the store. Since I'll most likely use it in the future, I think I'll pick up a bottle and experiment with some scrap. Thanks again.

-James

[KateC]

WOW Doctor!!! Who cares about any "center", that patch is amazing! Im in awe of your talent. Wear it with pride!

I have no experience with tooling dyes so I cant help you there, just couldnt stop myself from saying WOW.....

[joquarter]

Wow , that's a great peace.

I agree with Ken , also use highligter in combination with oil dye en super sheen .

[Scary Leatherworks]

depending on what color you want you may want to dye, resist, antique and finish. This day planner I made is an example I of that. using an airbrush is easiest. for the planner 1st sprayed saddle tan on entire piece. 2nd on the edges sprayed med brown and chocolate brown to "fade" 3rd sprayed "leather balm with atom wax" over entire piece to seal in the stain and prevent the antiquing color to penetrate. then after its dry I rub antique paste on it and wipe it off with several clean cloths. need to wipe flat so the antique color stays in the depressions. then let it dry well before applying your final sealant (atom wax for me)

I use Fiebings dyes available at tandy because they aren't water based so less likely to be effected by rain, although I use tandy's eco-flo antique med brown.

very lightly damp paper towels are good for getting the excess antique finish off. I use several flipping or folding each wipe so I always have a clean side.

I have to give credit to David for posting this method a while back for his motorcycle seats.

hope this helps

Scott

[The Doctor]

WOW Doctor!!! Who cares about any "center", that patch is amazing! Im in awe of your talent. Wear it with pride!

I have no experience with tooling dyes so I cant help you there, just couldnt stop myself from saying WOW.....

Thank you very much, KateC. Praise like that is always as welcome as criticism.

-James

Edited November 13, 2010 by The Doctor

[The Doctor]

depending on what color you want you may want to dye, resist, antique and finish. This day planner I made is an example I of that. using an airbrush is easiest. for the planner 1st sprayed saddle tan on entire piece. 2nd on the edges sprayed med brown and chocolate brown to "fade" 3rd sprayed "leather balm with atom wax" over entire piece to seal in the stain and prevent the antiquing color to penetrate. then after its dry I rub antique paste on it and wipe it off with several clean cloths. need to wipe flat so the antique color stays in the depressions. then let it dry well before applying your final sealant (atom wax for me)

I use Fiebings dyes available at tandy because they aren't water based so less likely to be effected by rain, although I use tandy's eco-flo antique med brown.

very lightly damp paper towels are good for getting the excess antique finish off. I use several flipping or folding each wipe so I always have a clean side.

I have to give credit to David for posting this method a while back for his motorcycle seats.

hope this helps

Scott

Thanks, Scott, that planner looks great! It reminds me very much of a "tobacco sunburst" finish on a guitar. The method you describe is very similar to how that finish is applied, also. I did get a couple of highlighter dyes, along with a bottle of Fiebing's Ox Blood dye I'm planning to use on the background. I've done a bit of experimenting and I think I'm ready to tackle it tomorrow.

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement!

-James

[TwinOaks]

When you say 'all you have available is from Tandy', I think you may be overlooking some really important sources. Home Depot, Lowe's, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and even Walmart have things you can use on leather. They aren't advertised as such, but they still work. I used Minwax wood stain on a sheath recently with outstanding results- better than I could have imagined. I used a can of Deft spray lacquer (wood finish) to seal it. To me, the stuff smells EXACTLY like Neat-lac, but it penetrates and dries a little quicker. Hobby Lobby and Michael's sell liquid latex you can apply for masking. (there's a tutorial on here about that, too.)

For coloring and finishing the piece, don't use the all-in-one. Scott is on the right track with his recommendations; to get the best results, you'll need a multi-stage finishing project. An airbrush is a great way to get even coverage and a fade, but for some things, you'll want to resort to a fine brush. For all the backgrounded area, use a spirit dye and carefully 'paint' in the dye around the piece. In the broader areas, you can touch a fully loaded brush to the leather and let the dye run out to the leather. If you decide to spray, you'll definitely want to add a resist to protect your colors, and work in layers. Don't be afraid to experiment....just do the experiments on scrap/practice pieces. Also, don't expect to do all the finishing in one step. I've ruined several (hey, I'm stubborn) pieces because I wouldn't set it down and let something dry. Don't expect edge finishing to be a one step process either; sand, edge, slick, burnish, dye, reburnish, and seal (Just like Bob Park's tutorial!!) works so much better than the edgecote dye I tried once. Like I said, multi-stage will give the best results, and just try to have a little patience.

P.S. If you use a lacquer finish, remember that you need to rub it into the leather, not just spray it on. Spraying it on will likely result in puddling, and flaking of the lacquer. Spray onto a rag or sheepskin scrap, then rub in. If you use dyes for coloring, you'll need to buff the dyed area to remove leftover pigment (what causes rub-off) before rubbing in ANY finish, otherwise you'll get some colored swirls that'll make you pull out your eyebrows in frustration.

[The Doctor]

TwinOaks, I owe you a debt of gratitude for opening this tiny box I've been thinking inside. Besides the ideas you mentioned, there are suppliers like Stewart-MacDonald, who supply beautiful alcohol-based wood stains and pigments for luthiers (guitar and fretted instrument makers.) Luthiery and woodworking in general are also hobbies of mine, so there's a whole world of finishing possibilities from those arenas as well, I suppose. I once used some of my black tattoo ink (mixed with water to make a "wash") for a finish on some curly maple I used to make handle scales for a knife. Come to think of it, a black ink wash may be just the thing for certain highlighting I have in mind with this project. And who knows what I may come up with by using the colored tattoo pigments on leather. Someday, that is; I'm not going to try it just yet, lol.

Thanks again to all of you.

[The Doctor]

Well, I haven't finished the edge yet, but other than that, it's finished! I'll post a photo first, then ramble a bit about how I did the finish, in case anyone wants to know...

I started with a fine rapidograph pen with black ink to delineate some of the outline, which helped separate foreground/background. Next, I painted in the background with Fiebing's Ox Blood stain. After that, I used Tandy's Midnight Black between the design and background to help the design stand out a little more. I used the same black for the dark places in the eyes and inside the jawline on the right side. Then I started the color with Tandy's Hi-Liter Saddle Tan with a #0 Windsor & Newton brush on each little scale of the dragon, including the belly scales. Then I went in with a bit of their Briar Brown color to darken up the nooks and crannies. Pretty much the same process and colors with the skull, also - just used a bigger brush.

The mouth and tongue are a combination of All-in-One Primrose Red, and Cova Colors Cherry and White. No particular technique, just picking up paint back and forth until it worked out not so bad. The eye is All-in-One Cactus Green, Cova Colors Kelly Green and Yellow. The teeth were all Cova White with Turquoise. The skull teeth, also. But I had to go back in and mute it with some more white before it looked halfway decent.

I love the look of the Ox Blood stain on the background. I saw it used on a YouTube video, and really dug it. I used a very uneven backgrounder tool to get the weird texture, because I was hoping for that sort of mottled look.

Thanks for all the help and advice, everyone - I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Wish I should show it off in person - photos don't do it justice.