distressing

[Frodo]

I am working on a method to distress leather to look old..  i think i am pretty close, so i wanted to ask the forums opinion

tell you what i did. and get some fed back. 

first, i used a sponge sideways to [black] dye the side edge of the leather and to let a little on the top

then i rubbed the dye on cardbord to dry the sponge out.

then i rubbed the dryed out sponge onto the leather

next  i used a cloth and rubbed brown dye over the black dye

then with a clean cloth rubbed finish over it

does this look like an old wore out piece of leather in need of some tlc ?

 

 

 

[fredk]

Almost. Its too clean around some of the rivet heads. Dirt, grime and polish builds up around these and that area is hard to clean and thus it is much darker. The rivet heads need a bit of work as well. I light sanding with a coarse grit emery paper - just a touch on the edges and a bit on their centres - drag the emery in one direction only

[wizard of tragacanth]

Yeah, looks good to me!

Maybe you could dog-ear the corners a little bit. Mash them down and bend them inward, like they have been in a pocket many times.

nick

Edited January 23, 2020 by wizard of tragacanth

[chuck123wapati]

excellent job there I like it also, It does make a nice effect. Maybe some antiqueing around the rivets for some grime buildup and just burnish the edges in areas that wouldn't show wear, leave corners rough or maybe sand em to round them off a bit. whack it with a few things while cased to give it some texture.