hi. what product or products do you use on the vachetta??After:
Good as new
The LV Rescue Club
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wow you are so good at restoring and even changed the look yourself!The Extended Petit Bucket project
I had never set out to take a part this bag. I know that the only way it keeps its “value” is to have the repairs done by a Louis Vuitton Shop. I also understand why they will refuse to perform repairs on older products. The canvas of this bag was becoming brittle after 17 years. Extra holes from stitching the new binding definitely weakened the top. I certainly didn’t “save” any money on this project condition. What I did end up with is saving an old bag, giving it a second life and a fun project. Hopefully all you DIY folks out there will learn from my mistakes.
Where it started:
I teach a high school fashion class. When we were discussing the difference between fast fashion which is cheap but lacking quality, as opposed to purchasing something that is designer. I tried to explain that when you purchased designer goods, they would last an extremely long time if you took care of them. When you purchase something of quality, it is worth repair and replacing worn parts rather than replacing it with something much cheaper.
I was on ebay when I saw a Louis Vuitton Petit Bucket listed for $60. The outside was in fairly good condition but like many products with vuittonite lining, the inside was a sticky mess. I decided to purchase it and make a cream coloured leather insert to go over top of the original lining to extend the life of the bag while not altering it. Everyone who rescues an LV dreams of taking it in for refurbishing.
On the purse forum I read about someone who had scrubbed the sticky off the lining using simple green and a brush. I decided to try scrubbing the lining clean but when I didn’t predict that I would get the leather wet and dry it out. Once the leather binding strip at the top of the bag dried, it cracked and crumbled like a potato chip. The same thing happened to the leather around the liner pockets which destroyed the LV Heat Stamp.
I removed the inside liner, made a pattern from it. I bought some cute purple and cream fabric with an adorable pattern on it and recreated the liner. I was able to reuse the original LV zipper (once I cleaned all the sticky off) and reattached the chain with the date stamp. The leather pieces from around the pockets were garbage so I recreated them with the cream leather I had bought to make the insert I had originally planned.
I took the bag with my custom lining to my local leather repair store. Where I ran into a whole new host of problems.
1) They didn’t have leather in the thickness I required.
2) They didn’t have the correct colour or thickness of thread.
They used natural vegetable tanned leather that was slightly lighter than the original vachetta to replace the binding strip. I contacted a thread company and mailed them a sample of the thread from the inside of the bag. They told me what to order and the project was on its way again. From ordering this bag to actually using it, the timeline was about 5 months.
Pros:
Inside lining is completely repaired/replaced with fabric that is durable and personalized. I will get a fair amount of use out of this bag since the outside is durable. I want my students to see and appreciate the quality of a designer label. I also want them to understand that learning how to sew also has value.
Cons:
I spent more money than I had intended to refurbish this bag. If I had planned it better, I could have bought one with the cosmetics bag. Once I had made the lining and damaged the leather I wasn’t sure what to do. The bag has no resale value but I doubt that being in an unusable condition that it was in was much better.
I hope that those of you who are thinking of rescuing a LV Bag on ebay will take a minute to see what is available for double the cost. You can get a far nicer bag you can easily rather than doing the major overall. I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t sew, It would have cost me at least another $50 to have someone else figured out and replace the lining. Maybe I should sell the replacement pattern I made on ebay?
Anyway, here is a total cost breakdown of this project including shipping and taxes separate. I originally wasn’t going to include them but in my heart I knew I should.
$60 LV Bag from ebay
$10 Cream coloured leather for insert
$10 Thread and Fabric for lining
$ 4 Yellow LV style thread
$40 Leather binding replacement
$124 Subtotal
$ 38 Shipping, Duty and Taxes
$160 Total Cost for the project
If I were to attempt this project again:
1. Make sure the leather binding at the top of the bucket bag is in good condition.
2. Condition all the leather before handling. The leather was dry to begin with and I think that I would have caused less damage if it had been conditioned a couple times before I started handling it.
3. Cut out the original lining, leaving a 1 inch strip to attach the new lining to. Then you can remove the embossed leather pocket openings and LV zipper and use them.
4. For the replacement lining, instead of just serging the raw edge at the top I would have left an extra ½ inch and folded the top over to make it stronger.
5. I would have bought enough fabric to add more pockets in the lining for sunglasses and lipstick.
6.. If I had to remove the leather binding at the top of the purse. I would reinforce the top of the monogrammed canvas all around the inside top with a strip of electrical tape or fusible interfacing to help it hold together and prevent potential cracking (which my leather specialist had problems with.) I would also tell them that I wanted the special thread I had ordered on both the inside and outside stitching. I guess I didn’t specify that I was important.
Thanks for ready my post. Thoughts, comments questions appreciated.
The binding shows lighter in the picture.
I would have taken more photos but Cleocatra decided she would share the spotlight.
I'm thinking of having the trim re-placed on my mono neverfull. The handles and side straps are in great shape. They are a pretty honey. How long did take for your new trim to blend with your original vachetta?
Here are before and after pics of my Mono Speedy 30 after piping and zipper pull replacement. This bag is 23 yrs. old and I must say it has held up pretty well. I contemplated replacing the handles as well but the cost wasn't justifiable to me. The piping replacement was also pricey however the piping was in pretty bad condition as you can see on the attached photo. The repair has brought new life to this bag, previously it was a very slouchy and sagging but now has a more structured form, in the photo you can see that bag is able to stand on it's own without any items inside. I am very happy with the repair. I have cleaned the handles a bit but will do a more thorough cleaning when I have time. I hope this helps anyone deciding on wheter to replace the piping on thier bag. The piping replacement was $210 and the zipper pull was done as courtesy in the LV store.
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The bag looks great. Recently I been thinking of replacing all my vachetta on my speedy too but not sure if I really "need" it done. Congrats on yours it looks great.
Thanks! The entire vachetta replacement was too close to the cost of a new bag. I may have the leather tabs replaced in the near future but everything else is holding up just fine for now.
Your bag is gorgeous! I wish mine looked as good as your (1991), well now after the piping replacement its well on its way!
Yea I was thinking it would be around that much I'm going to get some quotes see if maybe I'll do the handles and tan them out
my speedy handles are getting soo dirty and are cracking (especially the red lining on the vachetta handles). I also think the Zipper pull and the side tabs (sorry not sure what the proper term is) look like they're going to rip any day now. I never pull the zipper by the vachetta anymore. the piping is in good condition and the canvas is impeccable. I'm thinking about getting the handles replaced but I now live in Ireland & not even sure I can do that here ? any Irish LV restorists?
I know this is old but your restoration job is just wonderful. Was wondering would the baby wipe technique work on a LV Bucket Bag GM instead of the full out Simple Green job in previous comments? Both left the bags in stunning condition but just trying to find the simplest, least messy and least time consuming job?
I know this is old but your restoration job is just wonderful. Was wondering would the baby wipe technique work on a LV Bucket Bag GM instead of the full out Simple Green job in previous comments? Both left the bags in stunning condition but just trying to find the simplest, least messy and least time consuming job?
Hi, I've never seen a bucket lining IRL, is it the wipe able lining which gets sticky? If so it should work fine, but I can't be sure. It's worth a try, I used alcohol free wipes which won't cause any damage. Good luck and let us know how you get on, with before and after pics if possible
Well the wipes didn't help much so I ended up going the Simple Green route and I must say that after two hours of work, I am very happy with the results. It was messy and time consuming but I got rid of all the peeling and the stickiness. I will post pictures tomorrow.
