having a problem with leather dye

[thedirector93]

so im new to working with leather so there's still a lot i dont know. but im making a sheath for one of my knives and my plan was to have most of it black, with a design in the middle being red. when i first started i just dyed the whole thing black, the design also being black. i thought that would make the red darker once i put it on, but the red won't show at all, i've put several coats of red but it doesn't show at all. should i just keep putting more coats on, or should i scratch the black off the design and then put red on it?

 

[machineage]

You will have to scratch the black of and get to a lighter base. Dye is transparent, so whatever is underneath affects the tint. Paints are opaque so you could use an oil or acrylic over the black and it would cover. Hope this helps.

 

[thedirector93]

yeah, thanks

 

[leatherman]

Correct, because of their transparent nature leather dyes should always be used from lightest to darkest.

The biggest issue with a predominant black sheath with a light inset is that the black will inevitably migrate into that light area when applying it. Kind of a capillary action of the fibers of the leather, commonly called "bleed" It happens even with the finest brushes.

another issue comes up when applying the finish, black is notorious for lifting color from the surface and depositing it in that nice bright inset that you worked so hard keeping clean

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Capillary draw is a pita. I made this little key fob the other day for an auction sheath. I used a very fine brush to do the lettering and symbol. Then I brushed a resist (acrylic sheen) on top of that. I wanted the rest black and considered applying it with a block. In the end I took a flat price of wood and applied a thin layer of black dye on it, then dropped the medallion on it. I thought about filling in the tan parts, but figured it might be hard to do this again and let it be.

It's not perfect (or dry in the pic) but it's different.