Guest Week: Supplies

Choosing the purse

Given my busy schedule, I turned to Ebay to find a purse to dye rather than hunting one down at Goodwill or a vintage store. I really had no idea what shape or color I was looking for when I started hunting, so I started by looking at bags under $10, hoping to get an idea. After looking at a bunch of options, I decided I wanted something that looked like a smaller tote bag and that I wanted to make it bright yellow. When I saw this faux leather bag, I knew it was the right one for me!

Choosing the dye

There are several dye options available. Turns out that the leather dye Lucky featured was not real dye; the leather “dye” they use is really an acrylic paint that just covers the leather surface. Traditional penetrating dyes are available, but they are not capable doing dramatic changes. For example, you can’t dye a dark colored purse to a light color. For my purse, I wanted to make a more dramatic shift (medium brown bright yellow), so I decided to use an acrylic paint “dye.” I decided to use this Tarrago leather dye kit from Manhattan Wardrobe Supplies in lemon yellow. Tarrago is the dye featured in the Lucky article; however, there are several other brands of dye available. Search the Manhattan Wardrobe Supply site under shoe care to see several other options.