First Seat

[Cyberthrasher]

I did one coat of resolene at about 4PM and another coat around 6PM. So I should have dyed it first, then resolene, then antiqued? Oops.

Yep, dye penetrates the leather to color it. Resolene and other finishes seal it so nothing else can get in (hence the reason they're used for resist). But, it can still penetrate.

So, I was reading some writings from another crafter who says they apply their resolene first ALL the time and then dye in order to get a perfectly blended dye job. I don't know about perfect in my eyes, but I did use it after reading that, when I realized some things weren't quite right with my color. It pools up on the resolene and allows you to move it around before it penetrates (it may take quite some time to settle through). Give it a try on an easily covered spot to test it, then have a go. Once you get all the dye done - go apply 3 more coats of Resolene before antiquing. That way you don't effect the dye you just put on at that point.

Remember:

Dye

Resolene for resist (x3)

antique

Resolene for finish coat

Edited March 18, 2013 by Cyberthrasher

[KurseD]

That should have been a common sense I guess, don't know where my head has been. Ugh, hope this comes out right. On a side note, I think the wings may be too wide so this might not work on the seat in the end. Oh well, learning experiences all the way around.

[Cyberthrasher]

Don't beat yourself up man. It will just take a little more time to get the dye right. I think it will be fine. The wings look like they might reach out to the edge of the seat once it has some foam under it, but still in the "not bad" category. It's your first seat and about your 5th project - nothing to be ashamed about here

[KurseD]

Sprayed the dye on. I'd DEFINITELY recommend NOT using the resolene until AFTER the dye process. Gave me some splattering issues. A quick wipe with a wet rag usually helped a lot though. Also having a ton of trouble with my airbrush since it seems I didn't remember to clean it last time I used it, don't know what that was all about. Used the saddle tan first, then the med brown, then I brush painted the eyes and nose on the skull. Letting it dry, then lots more resolene, and on to the antiquing.

[Cyberthrasher]

See, it's looking good man. May not be exactly what you set out to do, but it's still getting up there.

[KurseD]

Yeah, I was a lot happier once I got some color on it. Already thinking of things to do differently. Clean out my airbrush for one.

[KurseD]

*Edit* I said earlier that I used "medium brown" for the darker areas, I actually used uncut "saddle tan". Well, I let it dry for a few hours and went back to apply the next coat of resolene. OOPS! The new coat of resolene wiped off the darker areas of dye. So I wiped the whole thing down with denatured alcohol really well, let that dry for a bit, then I went back over it with "medium brown" this time to see what that looked like. So I'll let it set a couple days to dry this time, then try the resolene again.

[Cyberthrasher]

You might try spraying your resolene. But, make sure you get some kind of airbrush cleaner to get that acrylic out of it. If you leave it, you'll have to spend some good time cleaning things up later. The resolene gets extra gunky pretty bad. The first coat is the one that will move things around, so that's the main one that should be sprayed if you can. Same thing after your antiquing so you don't pull it out of the tooling as easily. I like the new color better