My name is Ariss.
I am the co-owner of Awl Together Leather,
and I have been a professional leatherworker
for five years.
Awl Together Leather is Canada's
first queer-owned cobbling shop.
Today, I'm going to walk you through how we restore
a faded and poorly redyed Dior handbag.
This is our client's handbag.
She brought it in because she had previously
tried to redye it at a different shop
that did not strip the dye properly.
When you look at this bag,
you can see that it is gray.
The handles are poorly warped and chipped.
This Dior bag is leaking dye,
and so we are going to have to deglaze it.
To start, we will need to prep this bag
by taping off all portions
that we do not want to get dye on.
To strip the bag,
we will start by putting on our safety equipment.
Deglazer is a very strong chemical
that is formulated to remove sealant coats
and previous dye layers from leather.
We will deglaze the bag by going in small circles
with a medium-rough sponge
to get the previous dye off
and the previous sealant coat off.
We need to evenly distribute the deglazer
over the bag to ensure that the dye
will evenly go back into the bag after the fact.
We are using a professional oil tan dye
formulated for leather.
It is better than alcohol-based dyes
as it gives a more even coverage.
We will be using a paintbrush
for all of the quilted areas
to make sure we get the creases
and a wool dauber for the bottom,
where it is even leather.
We are using a large flat-bristled paintbrush
to make sure that our strokes are wide and even,
making for a uniform color.
Interiors of bags pose challenges
because you are not able to dye liners.
And so you have to make sure
that you don't hit the liner,
which is why we'll protect it with tape.
The handles' edges are too badly cracked to be restored,
and the handles themselves are bleeding so much dye
that we do not think we can successfully
prevent dye from bleeding out of them in the future.
We are going to remake them instead.
To remove these handles,
I am going to pop these rivets
using strong, sharp side cutters and bolt cutters.
To make the leather strap,
I am going to cut a piece of leather;
put it through my bell skiver,
which is a machine that thins leather out;
glue that piece and wait for that to dry;
and then fold that piece over onto itself.
I am going to use a seam roller to fold these edges
to make sure that they become uniform
and even in a new strap.
To remake these handles,
I will be using an Italian calfskin leather
in the same grain as the original bag.
I am going to use the old handle
as a stencil on my leather
to make sure the shape stays the same.
I am going to trace the base of the handles
onto a leather,
a leather board for structure,
and a top layer of leather.
I am then going to glue them all together,
making sure that no air bubbles are in the glue.
To make even, clean edges,
we are going to use an X-Acto knife
and a corner punch.
I'm going to sand the edges of these handles
to make sure that they are perfectly even,
so that when I put on my edge coat
no burrs or bumps are shown.
To put on the edge coat, I am going to be using
a roller inkwell and a roller pen
to make sure it is evenly distributed.
To place the handle to the strap,
I will be using some double-sided tape
to ensure it does not move while I sew it.
I'm going to be sewing this handle together
using an industrial walking foot machine,
which evenly pulls the leather along
to make sure the stitch lengths are all the same.
Now I am going to apply an acrylic leather sealer
to ensure that the dye
does not leak onto the customer
and to also waterproof the bag.
Now we are going to use a leather punch
and a leather rivet setter tool
to punch a hole into the handles
and to put rivets through and set them.
To finish the bag,
I'm going to remove all the tape.
And then buff it using a true horsehide brush,
which will even out the shine
and the gleam of the bag.
Our customer was thrilled
with the end result of this bag.
She is extremely happy
to have her handbag back in her wardrobe.