ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines changing the color of leather using many techniques: from vat dying skins, to painting finished leather, and everything in between. This chapter includes all you need to know about dyeing several skins the same color in the vat, how to paint and finish leather so it doesn’t bleed, and which paints and dyes I have used and prefer to alter the color of leather. I include leather dye sources, information about the pH, the fat requirement for suppleness, all of the leveling compounds, stretching the leather afterward, and how corrections can be made by toning with watered down leather dye. I discuss toxic and non(low)-tox leather dyes and paints and discuss how to apply each and how to prep leather to be painted/dyed. This chapter contains many examples of finished film costumes using the aforementioned techniques.
