Members TinkerTailor Posted December 1, 2016 Members Report Posted December 1, 2016 As a note, In my opinion, A natural backside is better. It shows both the care and attention that you put into your dye job and edges, but also shows off the quality of your leather. Low quality leather is backed with paint and stuff to keep it smooth and uniform because it is far from it. Good leather does not need this. You can fake a nice grain side but it is really hard to fake the raw backside of quality leather. Part of the trick is to get it to look untouched, but actually have sealed it from badness without a fake look. And if you have a small dye bleed on an edge, Just call it a "Humanity Feature" and keep going. With every project your technique will refine and the humanity features will lessen, until the final stage, when you are a machine.......Happy dying..... Quote "If nobody shares what they know, we will eventually all know nothing." "There is no adventure in letting fear and common sense be your guide"
Members robs456 Posted December 1, 2016 Members Report Posted December 1, 2016 5 hours ago, TinkerTailor said: And if you have a small dye bleed on an edge, Just call it a "Humanity Feature" and keep going. With every project your technique will refine and the humanity features will lessen, until the final stage, when you are a machine.......Happy dying..... This. I strive for perfection. But what is perfection? That every piece I make looks exactly the same like it was made by a machine? I used to think so, but not any more. Perfection for me nowadays is when everything looks professionally Handmade by a skilled artisan. If something is off, like the stitch on the leftmost piece I posted above (easy to see) I still sell it at full price as it is on the inside of the bracelet and not visible. If it was on the front and visible 'to the world' I might toss the piece, and if it was on the front but more to the lock and thus not very visible anyway I reduce the price, make the customer very aware that I have reduced the price and exactly why so that they don't 1. tell their friends I sell stuff real inexpensive and 2. show/complain to their friends about 'what shoddy work I do'. It seems to work but I read here that marking 2nd rate pieces as such might be a good idea also, may try that later. Quote Instagram: rob5leather
Members monicaj Posted December 3, 2016 Author Members Report Posted December 3, 2016 On 11/29/2016 at 10:49 AM, TinkerTailor said: As far as finish, many use beeswax based finishes but be carefull, over application can cause them to be sticky. Others use thinned resolene, but this can make the back rougher and scratchier.... On 12/1/2016 at 10:36 AM, TinkerTailor said: Part of the trick is to get it to look untouched, but actually have sealed it from badness without a fake look. And if you have a small dye bleed on an edge, Just call it a "Humanity Feature" and keep going. With every project your technique will refine and the humanity features will lessen, until the final stage, when you are a machine.......Happy dying..... If I use thinned resolene, and then lightly sanded to make it softer, would the sanding compromise the seal of the resolene? For some reason I thought that if it didn't have a lining or wasn't colored, then it was drastically unprofessional. So I'm super glad to hear that I can leave the backside bare aside from using some kind of protectant. Humanity feature... I decided to make a dear friend a surprise photo album, but I was having a real off day and ended up creating too many 'humanity features'. So I cut out more leather and started again... and dang if I didn't do the same mistakes (stamping letters backwards, upside down, etc). At that point I just decided to finish them both and send them, mistakes and all. She's actually the kind that would find humanity features enduring. So it was a win win. I'm still learning about the leather itself. I just found out that it seems like the shoulder part is easier to cut and work with than the scrap pieces that Tandy sells for $25 (I think it's the belly, not sure). But next time I go get some I'm going to look at the backside, because I'm just realizing how 'unstable' the leather is when the back is really hairy, like the fibers are real loose... seems more stretchy and less solid. Mushy like. How does this look? Is the leather quality good, and are my edges getting close to what they should be? (this is still black dye though... I ordered some edge kote and some paint to try out, waiting on it.) Quote
Members JenGranger Posted December 10, 2016 Members Report Posted December 10, 2016 Monicaj, your work is beautiful! I especially love the barrette. And I've never seen a necklace like that before! Quote
Members monicaj Posted January 30, 2017 Author Members Report Posted January 30, 2017 On 12/10/2016 at 11:20 AM, JenGranger said: Monicaj, your work is beautiful! I especially love the barrette. And I've never seen a necklace like that before! Thank you Jen! Sorry I'm responding back so late. I've been getting ready to move and I haven't been focusing on doing leather stuff and I haven't been on this site for awhile. Quote
Members wlg190861 Posted January 30, 2017 Members Report Posted January 30, 2017 (edited) As far as using black dye, make your own. Take a quart jar fill it with steel wool, fill with apple cider vinegar an let set on the counter for 2 weeks, strain with cheese cloth. There you go. Dye your leather with this and it will never rub off no matter how hard you try. Any other color leave the back un-dyed. Burnish the raw edge an dip in Sheps Neatslene harness oil from Weaver Leather. Pure neatsfoot oil its to harsh. Edited January 30, 2017 by wlg190861 Quote
Members monicaj Posted January 31, 2017 Author Members Report Posted January 31, 2017 15 hours ago, wlg190861 said: As far as using black dye, make your own. Take a quart jar fill it with steel wool, fill with apple cider vinegar an let set on the counter for 2 weeks, strain with cheese cloth. There you go. Dye your leather with this and it will never rub off no matter how hard you try. Any other color leave the back un-dyed. Burnish the raw edge an dip in Sheps Neatslene harness oil from Weaver Leather. Pure neatsfoot oil its to harsh. Much thanks wlg! I'll definitely try it out. Quote
Members Mattsbagger Posted January 31, 2017 Members Report Posted January 31, 2017 1 hour ago, monicaj said: Much thanks wlg! I'll definitely try it out. It's not dye. It's called vinegroon. Many spellings. Do a search on it. It causes a chemical reaction to veg tan leather and turns it black. Quote
Members monicaj Posted January 31, 2017 Author Members Report Posted January 31, 2017 1 hour ago, Mattsbagger said: It's not dye. It's called vinegroon. Many spellings. Do a search on it. It causes a chemical reaction to veg tan leather and turns it black. Vinegroon... I'll research it. Thanks. Quote
Members wlg190861 Posted February 1, 2017 Members Report Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) 19 hours ago, Mattsbagger said: It's not dye. It's called vinegroon. Many spellings. Do a search on it. It causes a chemical reaction to veg tan leather and turns it black. My bad ( VINEGROON ) / ( DYE ) Edited February 1, 2017 by wlg190861 Quote
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