Thank you for the kind words gents.
As far as the color, I was pretty pleased with the deep russet color. If you like it, then credit James Rogers for that. He taught me a lot of the process. If you don't like it, it was my fault. :-)
It is Fiebing's Pro Dye "Dark Brown" thinned down. I applied two coats and let each dry overnight. This is the hard part....it often looks fairly unappealing at this stage....sort of like AF on maple with no finish. These two dye coats left the color sort of a light rust with a mauve tint. Yech. You have to stop a couple of shades lighter than you ultimately want. Burnish the leather well. Once dried, I rubbed a light coat of neatsfoot oil into the leather with a paper towel. Once set overnight, I did that again. The oil takes the color down a shade and adds richness. Once allowed to set/disperse overnight, burnish again. Then I add my top finish, which again darkens the leather by one shade. Buff well and the finish is done.
On this one, I wanted sort of a "marbled" effect, as these are supposed to replicate a bag appropriate to perhaps the SW mountains of NC. Not a professional leathercrafting shop in London.
Thank you again, and God Bless, Marc
