White Nikki, The Tale of Another Dyed!

sunlitmoon

Member
Sep 23, 2006
3,305
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Okay so as some of you may know I bid and won a white nikki on the bay for $199, I was sooo excited. It was dirty but in great condition with beautiful candy cane lining that just needs a quick wash (it was in much better condition than I thought it was going to be!) I bought it for the sole purpose of dyeing it.

In my hasty ways, the second I got it I looked it over and started the process immediately, forgetting to take before pictures. I asked the seller if I could use a few of hers from the auction to show you all. She (a fellow TPFer, hi there!) kindly agreed so here is the before! (Don't worry I'm already on the third coat so this thread will go quick!)
 

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I wasn't sure what color I wanted. At first I was considering a green but tarrago doesn't have all that many choices and I had just snagged up a mint nikki.

In my quest for wine I thought of trying to dupe that but figured I would want a true wine one day so didn't want an exact dupe. I decided on a dark reddened purple and bought Deep Burgundy #26 and Purple #23 intending on mixing them. I tried it on a swatch and didn't love it so I thought the Deep Burgundy would be purple enough.

Now one note I need to make, until the last picture I had my settings all messed up on my camera without realizing it. Even today's picture is a bit off cause to me it looks a bit more purple IRL.

Here was the first coat, at this point I was sort of freaking out. The leather is pebbled making it soooo much harder to get every little crevice and it was coming out way blotchy even though I used the whole bottle of preparer on it with a scoth brite sponge before.
 

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Hahah desi, unfortunately no! That might have been cool though, I wish I could have been a bit more adventurous with the color but I was so scared of ruining it.

Crazy4H! Yours was one of the ones that inspired me so! I thought the deep burgundy would come out a bit more purple than it did but I guess it really does depend on the original color. I had heard that it didn't but with more coats I guess it was sort of getting there. I'm contemplating a 4th coat though.
 
I love the color! This particular White is particularly non-porous, which helps to keep itself clean. You are very brave to try to dye this one. I can't wait to see the results too!
 
So I waited about 6 hours or so and it felt dry to me. The package says its fully dry at 5 hours and I saw someone on here in another forum did three coats in under 24 hours so I went for it. I was nervous 'cause it was blotchier than I wanted and I just couldn't wait overnight for the 2nd coat.

At first it was way fun! I knew it was going to be a process and I heard Crazy4 and others say how tedious it was but holy moly! I had no idea. It took me about 2 hours or so for each coat. All the little hidden spots are so hard to get and I kept finding white patches because of the pebbled nature of it.

After the second coat I was feeling better though. My mom told me to leave it like that, haha. She liked it but it was still looking so undone to me. I did like the different tones in it though. And since there was nothing I could do at this point I figured I had better!
 

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I love the color! This particular White is particularly non-porous, which helps to keep itself clean. You are very brave to try to dye this one. I can't wait to see the results too!

Good gah, I know!! I knew this going into it, I was prepared for something tonal and after seeing yours I knew I'd be okay with it. I liked how the two colors ended up showing through on yours.

It did suck up that dye though, just moreso in other spots than others. The bottom sucked it right up on the first coat. It turned so dark right off the bat. I've since evened it out mostly but since I started with the bottom that made me nervous to continue.
 
All right so TODAY! I had class all morning and was itching to get on that third coat! I'm really liking how it is turning out. I still have touch ups to do (and maybe another really thin coat?), I keep finding random white spots poking through near the edges and such but I decided it was time to take it outside and see how the camera picked it up in the natural light.

It's not as purple as I had hoped but it's gorgeous and it does look a bit more purple IRL like I said. When I'm finished completely I'll post a couple more pictures (close ups, etc) and try to get my camera to pick up the color just a tad better. It's pretty close though, it does look very wine-ish.
 

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Thanksss I know!! I'm loving the purple tinge to it. I'm very glad it's different enough to justify a wine nikki in the future, heh.

Overall I am oh sooo happy! I got an amazing deal and it quenches my need for wine for now since I can't afford another new bag any time soon! It still feels sooo nice and smooshy. It's a bit tacky, but only since this last coat so I'm figuring once it dries as well it will be good to go.

Do you all think I should do another coat to even it out a bit more? I don't want to overdye it. Or should I just do the touchups, clean up the brass and lining and take it out on the town!? :yahoo: