Guest Week: Doing the work

Dyeing the purse was incredibly easy.  The Tarrago kit I got included a preparer, the paint to dye the purse, and a sponge and brush to apply the paint.

The first thing I did was apply the preparer  with a soft rag. This conditions and cleans the surface to get it ready for the dye. The instructions for preparer use vary depending on the material of the bag; for my faux leather purse, I just needed to clean the purse with it, but for some materials you need to make sure you remove a finish on the outside of the bag.

After this, I used both the brush and sponge to apply layers of paint to the purse. The brush was good at getting paint into crevasses, while the sponge applied a thin, even coat over the bag. I repeated this process several time (I lost count) until I had nice even cover of the dye over the purse.  Since my bag was transitioning from a darker color to a light color, I had to use a fair amount of dye (2 kits worth).  It took several days to achieve the coverage I wanted!

I didn’t bother covering area of the purse I did not want dyed with tape.  Instead I just was careful while applying the paint and used nail polish remover (acetone) to clean off out-of-place paint.  Nail polish remover should be used with care, since it can damage the purse (especially if you are dyeing a synthetic purse, like me!)

Come back tomorrow to see the finished project!