My last few months have not been as filled with adorable babies and children like Kae's has. It's been a little filled with it, as I am currently close enough to Hillbilly Holler to visit once a month or so. Mostly it's been living in a hotel (a very, very lonely hotel) and trying to keep myself entertained with Señor Marine on the other side of the world. Mostly that entertainment came from nagging Señor Marine with messages every chance I get, a little sewing on the sewing machine he got me for Valentine's Day to keep me busy, and watching a lot of TV. A LOT.
Mostly this post is going to be about the DIY purse dyeing I tried out. Now, I tried to buy a used Marc Jacobs purse on ebay. I should have known something was wrong when I won a $12 purse. I got it in the mail the next week and saw all the things wrong with it that were not in the ebay pictures.
The overall view, minus the handle
The lovely pen marks, accentuated by the areas where the original color is completely worn off.
Now, I tried to sell it again on ebay. No one wanted it. Señor Marine told me to cut my losses and give it to Goodwill or something. Nice thought, but I had been reading up on how to dye leather purses, so I thought I'd give it a shot. That was how one rainy afternoon I ended up at Tandy Leather in the middle of the ghetto, and found the nicest man ever who was partially amused by my need to dye a purse and partially impressed that I didn't care about messing it up.
This nasty smelling stuff completely strips everything off the leather. Just spread it all over the purse with a rag and watch to see what comes off.
After one pass with the deglazer. I'm not sure if that's dirt or dye, but it looked disgusting either way.
After the deglazer, I had a nice stripped-down white-ish purse to work with, instead of the original dirty white. Then came the dye. I had such a dilemma at the leather store. The salesman pointed me towards the right type of dye, and then debated colors with me. He was pretty into the color I chose: neon pink.
My lovely pink color, which I mistakenly thought would be a light pink. Just wait.
The leather man recommended mixing 1 part dye and 1 part water. It worked out kind of okay, but it was MUCH better the next day when it was less soupy. I don't know how that happened, but it did.
So there I was, on the floor of my hotel room with my sponge brushes, painting a $500 leather purse. It was pretty fun. I did the main part of the purse on the first day, then the next day when everything was dry, I did the bottom and the handle. It took a bajillion coats the first day (okay, it was like 5 or 6) but only a couple the next day when the dye mixture seemed less watery.
Coat one
Coat two
Coat three
Coat four
Final product!
I have been waiting to take it out to wear, so I don't have a final outfit picture with it. The reason is it's been crazy rainy here the past few days, and I'm not 100% convinced the dye is completely waterproof. How do I know, you may ask? I came back from running the other day and with my disgustingly sweaty hand, moved the purse, and got a little pink on my fingers. So, I'll either not take it out when it's rainy, not take it out on runs, or get a sealant for it.
So that's what I've been up to. Yep, pretty awesome. I'm not creating life or molding little minds, like Kae, but I am turning the world pepto-bismal pink, one accessory at a time.
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