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sunlitmoon · Sep 20th, 2009, 05:35 PM

Earlier this year I purchased a White Nikki with the sole purpose of embarking upon a dye project. You can see how that turned out here. While I liked it, and am still a big believer in the Tarrago Self Shine Dyes for smoother leathers, the incredibly pebbled nature of my Nikki led to cracks of white constantly showing through. This resulted in me never using it...

I decided I would try again with a penetrating dye so I would not have that problem. Browsing the forum I saw that pure acetone would remove the dye, sooooo two huge bottles later I was (almost) back to where I started.

It was the most tedious process ever, I started removing it weeks ago but just finished today 'cause I kept putting it off. There was still some old dye left on the bag but I couldn't take it anymore so just went for it...

sunlitmoon · Sep 20th, 2009, 05:39 PM

So this time I started out with an intermediate color of green in order to cancel out some of the red and allow it to dye darker easily. At this point it was looking like a sad little Christmas Elf.

But, this penetrating dye went on 100x smoother than the self shine. I'm still going to need to do a top coat with the self shine because this dye alone will transfer but it's a huge improvement to not having the white show through.

sunlitmoon · Sep 20th, 2009, 05:44 PM

Second layer is black. It needed this to cover up everything going on under there. But here is where I'm stuck. I can either do a dark green top coat over this, which I already have. Or just stay safe with a black, which I would need to purchase. While it looks good I really think I'd like at least a little bit of green hint to it, especially with the Candy Cane lining.

If I do this though, there is a chance that black will show through in the tiny crevices between the pebbles with time, as it will be the same self shine dye I used before. A lot of people have said to go for it though, that it will be reminiscent of the resort nikki and wouldn't look bad at all. I'm letting this dry overnight, touching it up and doing a test spot tomorrow.

What do you think? Black or Dark Green?

sunlitmoon · Sep 20th, 2009, 05:55 PM

I think I am going to at least try doing the dark green. While I like the black, I now have another black bag and I really like the green with the candy cane lining. As it will be pretty dark it won't look so Christmas Elf-y.

Maybe I'll go ahead and purchase the black as well and mix the two to make sure it's a nice deep color. I'll know after the test spot tomorrow.

debpie · Sep 20th, 2009, 06:13 PM

Great job! I can't wait to see the dark green over the black. I think it will look amazing!

MrsShoeGal · Sep 20th, 2009, 06:18 PM

wow great job yet agian I am still sad about that white nikki thought i loved it! LOL

i say go for the green too!!

sinfullysweet · Sep 20th, 2009, 06:24 PM

that is awesome! i cant wait to see if the green works. at least i know now i can go back at my ma hobo if i wanted to with a different color!

regalis · Sep 20th, 2009, 06:32 PM

I love the black on its own, tbh >> can I ask, how is the leather dealing with being stripped using acetone? And how are you finding that dye? I've got a bag I want to dye, but I haven't bought any dye yet.

sunlitmoon · Sep 20th, 2009, 06:34 PM

Yay, thanks ladies! I'm going to go for the green then, yeah. I'm a bit nervous, but honestly, this is a toss around bag for me. Dyeing it today was so spur of the moment, you can see all the red that was still on there under the green. I just went for it. I won't use the Nikki much either way. I'm more of a crossbody/satchel girl than I am a hobo. This one is soooo smooshy that for day to day life it gets annoying anyway 'cause everything gets lost in there.

regalis - When the acetone is first applied it makes the leather feel kind of weird but once it dries it's back to normal. And this dye is the BEST. It's a lot different than the non-penetrating. The self shine didn't alter the feel of my Nikki that much but some say it feels plasticy. I never found that to be true but this one, I don't think anyone could say that, the leather feels better than ever. You do have to use something on top of this dye to set it though, I think it will transfer otherwise. I'm going to use a thin layer of the Tarrago Self Shine, but I think there are other options. The Bal threads were an immense resource for me.

regalis · Sep 20th, 2009, 06:57 PM

thanks sunlitmoon, I'll have a bit of a look at the Bal forum, but after googling this new dye I think I'm going to use this!

Voodoo · Sep 20th, 2009, 07:03 PM

Interesting!! I'm terrified to try anything like this

But I'm enjoying your pics and processes.

gr8ful1 · Sep 20th, 2009, 07:20 PM

Wow! I was really scared when I saw the green/red tie dye effect, but the black looks great. I can't wait to see what happens next!

knasarae · Sep 20th, 2009, 08:35 PM

I love it!!! (Actually I thought the white/acid red look was kinda cool too, lol). But of course I definitely think you should go for the green....that's gonna be HAWT!

Desi · Sep 20th, 2009, 08:50 PM

Wow it looks great so far! I think u should do green. The whole eason for u redying was bc of the dye showing thru the cracks, so of the black does the same then there's a lost cause! The green would be super cool resort effect! Plus you already have a black roadie but no green bags :)

sunlitmoon · Sep 20th, 2009, 08:54 PM

Thanks! I'm excited to see it with the green too!

The first coat of green, seeing it look like that I thought I'd be scared too but I knew black was coming next. Plus the dye was going on soooo nicely that I was really happy at that point 'cause I knew it was going to work. I didn't before.

I thought I'd also show another small dye project I took on the other day. I love my 3 zip MACs now but the chain straps are too short for me and I didn't want to buy a long chain 'cause frankly they can get heavy. So I purchased a long black leather strap on the bay and dyed it with the dark green and turquoise Tarrago dye to match Teal. I'm going to match the other side to DT and buy another strap to match one side with PH, leaving the other black for my BBW MAMM! Woot!

Sep 20th, 2009, 05:35 PM	#1
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	Re-dyeing My Dyed Nikki! Earlier this year I purchased a White Nikki with the sole purpose of embarking upon a dye project. You can see how that turned out here. While I liked it, and am still a big believer in the Tarrago Self Shine Dyes for smoother leathers, the incredibly pebbled nature of my Nikki led to cracks of white constantly showing through. This resulted in me never using it... I decided I would try again with a penetrating dye so I would not have that problem. Browsing the forum I saw that pure acetone would remove the dye, sooooo two huge bottles later I was (almost) back to where I started. It was the most tedious process ever, I started removing it weeks ago but just finished today 'cause I kept putting it off. There was still some old dye left on the bag but I couldn't take it anymore so just went for it...
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	__________________

Sep 20th, 2009, 05:39 PM	#2
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	So this time I started out with an intermediate color of green in order to cancel out some of the red and allow it to dye darker easily. At this point it was looking like a sad little Christmas Elf. But, this penetrating dye went on 100x smoother than the self shine. I'm still going to need to do a top coat with the self shine because this dye alone will transfer but it's a huge improvement to not having the white show through.
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	__________________

Sep 20th, 2009, 05:44 PM	#3
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	Second layer is black. It needed this to cover up everything going on under there. But here is where I'm stuck. I can either do a dark green top coat over this, which I already have. Or just stay safe with a black, which I would need to purchase. While it looks good I really think I'd like at least a little bit of green hint to it, especially with the Candy Cane lining. If I do this though, there is a chance that black will show through in the tiny crevices between the pebbles with time, as it will be the same self shine dye I used before. A lot of people have said to go for it though, that it will be reminiscent of the resort nikki and wouldn't look bad at all. I'm letting this dry overnight, touching it up and doing a test spot tomorrow. What do you think? Black or Dark Green?
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	__________________

Sep 20th, 2009, 05:55 PM	#4
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	I think I am going to at least try doing the dark green. While I like the black, I now have another black bag and I really like the green with the candy cane lining. As it will be pretty dark it won't look so Christmas Elf-y. Maybe I'll go ahead and purchase the black as well and mix the two to make sure it's a nice deep color. I'll know after the test spot tomorrow.
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	__________________

Sep 20th, 2009, 06:13 PM	#5
debpie Member Joined: Dec 2007 Location: Nashville TN Posts: 3,788	Great job! I can't wait to see the dark green over the black. I think it will look amazing!
	__________________ debpie aka: formerly dp****

Sep 20th, 2009, 06:18 PM	#6
MrsShoeGal Member Joined: Sep 2006 Location: West Coast Posts: 6,940	wow great job yet agian I am still sad about that white nikki thought i loved it! LOL i say go for the green too!!
	__________________ Waiting on IVORY linear stud nikki, brown linear stud nikki or darling! Need a SS purple nikki or mini nikki!

Sep 20th, 2009, 06:24 PM	#7
sinfullysweet Member Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 84	that is awesome! i cant wait to see if the green works. at least i know now i can go back at my ma hobo if i wanted to with a different color!
sinfullysweet Member Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 84	__________________ banbanbanfailbanban*

Sep 20th, 2009, 06:32 PM	#8
regalis we are what we are Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Sydney Posts: 205	I love the black on its own, tbh >> can I ask, how is the leather dealing with being stripped using acetone? And how are you finding that dye? I've got a bag I want to dye, but I haven't bought any dye yet.
	__________________ i think everything counts a little more than we think. we are HUNTING - RM wicker Nikki RM night Nikki w/ sig HW RM burgundy Nikki RM Night/gold crackle MAB Givenchy large Nightingale in metallic black w/ ostrich foot handles Givenchy large Nightingale in RED w/nickel logo handles

Sep 20th, 2009, 06:34 PM	#9
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	Yay, thanks ladies! I'm going to go for the green then, yeah. I'm a bit nervous, but honestly, this is a toss around bag for me. Dyeing it today was so spur of the moment, you can see all the red that was still on there under the green. I just went for it. I won't use the Nikki much either way. I'm more of a crossbody/satchel girl than I am a hobo. This one is soooo smooshy that for day to day life it gets annoying anyway 'cause everything gets lost in there. regalis - When the acetone is first applied it makes the leather feel kind of weird but once it dries it's back to normal. And this dye is the BEST. It's a lot different than the non-penetrating. The self shine didn't alter the feel of my Nikki that much but some say it feels plasticy. I never found that to be true but this one, I don't think anyone could say that, the leather feels better than ever. You do have to use something on top of this dye to set it though, I think it will transfer otherwise. I'm going to use a thin layer of the Tarrago Self Shine, but I think there are other options. The Bal threads were an immense resource for me.
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	__________________ Last edited by sunlitmoon; Sep 20th, 2009 at 06:38 PM.

Sep 20th, 2009, 06:57 PM	#10
regalis we are what we are Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Sydney Posts: 205	thanks sunlitmoon, I'll have a bit of a look at the Bal forum, but after googling this new dye I think I'm going to use this!
	__________________ i think everything counts a little more than we think. we are HUNTING - RM wicker Nikki RM night Nikki w/ sig HW RM burgundy Nikki RM Night/gold crackle MAB Givenchy large Nightingale in metallic black w/ ostrich foot handles Givenchy large Nightingale in RED w/nickel logo handles

Sep 20th, 2009, 07:03 PM	#11
Voodoo Total Tano-itis Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Hockey-gasm Posts: 15,990	Interesting!! I'm terrified to try anything like this But I'm enjoying your pics and processes.
	__________________ TPF ANIMAL RESCUE HOTLINE! Go Stars!!! 22-10-6-6 (26 Pts.) *HE SHOOTS! HE SCORES! TPF HOCKEY FANS CLICK HERE!*

Sep 20th, 2009, 07:20 PM	#12
gr8ful1 Member Joined: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,431	Wow! I was really scared when I saw the green/red tie dye effect, but the black looks great. I can't wait to see what happens next!
gr8ful1 Member Joined: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,431

Sep 20th, 2009, 08:35 PM	#13
knasarae Dare to Dream Joined: Apr 2007 Location: Boringsville, USA Posts: 14,239	I love it!!! (Actually I thought the white/acid red look was kinda cool too, lol). But of course I definitely think you should go for the green....that's gonna be HAWT!
	__________________ If you see a Rebecca Minkoff sample sale Olive MAC for sale please PM me!!! Your friendly neighborhood MAC Advocate

Sep 20th, 2009, 08:50 PM	#14
Desi Rebecca Minkoff Mod Joined: Dec 2007 Location: Alpharetta, GA Posts: 17,940	Wow it looks great so far! I think u should do green. The whole eason for u redying was bc of the dye showing thru the cracks, so of the black does the same then there's a lost cause! The green would be super cool resort effect! Plus you already have a black roadie but no green bags :)
	__________________ In LOVE with my new Miu Miu Zaffiro Coffer

Sep 20th, 2009, 08:54 PM	#15
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	Thanks! I'm excited to see it with the green too! The first coat of green, seeing it look like that I thought I'd be scared too but I knew black was coming next. Plus the dye was going on soooo nicely that I was really happy at that point 'cause I knew it was going to work. I didn't before. I thought I'd also show another small dye project I took on the other day. I love my 3 zip MACs now but the chain straps are too short for me and I didn't want to buy a long chain 'cause frankly they can get heavy. So I purchased a long black leather strap on the bay and dyed it with the dark green and turquoise Tarrago dye to match Teal. I'm going to match the other side to DT and buy another strap to match one side with PH, leaving the other black for my BBW MAMM! Woot!
sunlitmoon OP Member Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,171	__________________

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