Refashioning: Paint it Black: A $1600 Louis Vuitton Handbag for $80!

I admit it. I love high end fashion. But I’m also way cheaper than anyone else I know. So...when that is your fate, you either need to get fearlessly creative, or act like a victim and get massively in-debt.

I opt for the former.

Here’s how you can too!

About a year ago, I started searching the internet for second-hand investment bags from Chanel, LV, Hermès, etc.

I found this Louis Vuitton Vernis Houston handbag on eBay for $80. Brand new, this bag sells for a cool $1600!

Now, listen. I did my homework on this one. There were several of the same bag selling for around the same price—some under, some over. But I had a specific criteria that I searched for: a decent interior, no major rips or scuffs, intact handles, and working zippers. I had to search for a few months,  sell a few of my own items on eBay to get the money, and finally found one that fit the bill.

I know, $80 is a lot for a self-proclaimed cheapskate to spend on one bag, but. . .considering that it retails for $1600, my thought was: I can dye that sucker, and when I get tired of it, I can flip it for at least more than I paid for it. Plus, how many ladies throw away $100+ at the local mall for a subpar Michael Kors bag. I don’t think $80 was a bad spend.

If this sounds crazy, remember that I am the woman who dyed a pair of Chanel shoes a few years ago (and then everyone started doing it). Those shoes look as great today as they did back then, so I was up for this challenge.

If you click the words “Chanel shoes” above, it will take you to my post that shows you how to dye your shoes so that they look excellent and not like a hack job. From that post, and when I dyed a Coach bag silver, I learned that Tarrago dye is really good for this kind of project, so I bought another set in “shiny” black. It costs around $10 on eBay.

Inside is a leather conditioner/prepper, leather dye, small brush, and applicator sponge.

I’m just going to tell you right now, that if you attempt this project—even if you buy the supposedly “patent leather”/shiny version of Tarrago dye....it doesn’t work on this bag! This bag is way too shiny.

I spent a while prepping the bag and then painting the bottom. A few hours later after it was dry, the bottom looked super messy, with tons of brushstrokes and uneven dull spots all over it. That is probably because Tarrago is actually leather paint. Same thing with Angelus. If your leather is super shiny, don’t buy either of those. You need an actual dye, not a paint. Instead, do this....

I happened to have an old bottle of Fiebings black leather dye. It’s only like...$5 or something on Amazon, eBay, or your local shoe repair shop.

So...I’m sorry there are pictures missing in this post, but...this is a really messy process, and it’s hard to take pictures while doing it!

Anyways, do this: Using a cotton ball and nail polish remover, rub all over the bag, the hardware, and the handles. Do this a few times to make sure you remove any residue and “break the seal” over the leather and patent leather. 

Then, using a cotton ball, sponge, and/or smaller brush, paint over all the surfaces that you want dyed. Don’t worry about the hardware. Just paint over that too. You need to get into all the nooks and crannies.

Then, you need to let it dry somewhere like a garage or basement, but make sure it’s well-ventilated because the dye is really fume-y and can give you a headache. 

(I hung my bag on a camera stand in my garage.)

Now, I know this is unorthodox, and I’m sure there are people who think I’m crazy, but. . .

After it’s dry (give it a few days), go over the whole thing with nail polish remover and a cotton ball. I discovered this by trial and error. I’m sure there are many DIYers who would say never to do this. But this is really the only way to take off the excess and assure that your color won’t rub off onto your clothes. This is also the best way to get the color off your hardware so that it looks like the dye job was professionally done. You could ostensibly use a mild soap and a rag, but. . .I wanted to make sure that the color wasn’t going anywhere. Also, acetone dries super quickly, whereas water takes time to dry and can soak your leather. If some of the color comes off during this step, then you can reapply color and let it dry again. Do this cycle as many times as you need to make sure the color is permanent. It works. I’m telling you.

Look how nice and shiny!

(I did buy some Fiebings Resolene—from Amazon—in case I need it. A lot of sources suggested using Resolene (acrylic sealer) to keep the color from fading and rubbing off onto other surfaces. I plan to use it eventually, but I want to make sure all the surfaces are exactly perfectly black before I go sealing anything. That means I will need to use this bag and monitor it for a few weeks yet. And...I many not even need the Resolene. Plus, I’m a little worried that it might dull the shine...Anyways, I’ll update this post and let you know.)

Because I kept the zipper closed, the interior is clean and neat.

I’m not a huge fan of gold hardware, but. . .if I resell it, other people like gold and black, so I can retain a lot of value by keeping the hardware gold. It’s not obnoxious, so I can live with it.

Looks brand new!

The End!

Refashioning: How to transfer a vintage hood and fur to a jacket and a coat.

Here’s a quickie. This is one of my posts that isn’t quite a “follow these exact rules.” It’s more like, “hopefully, this one gives you an idea.”

So, I go to Goodwill every week. On one of my searchings, I came across this old worn-out coat with a hood attached. What got my attention was the genuine fur trim on the hood. Whatever your moral standing on real versus fake fur, I think you would agree with me that it would be better to reuse vintage fur, rather than throwing it in a landfill, right? So I bought this coat and took it home and then thought about what to do with it.

The coat was pretty gross, and you gotta think about how hoods go on your head. Right? Head lice is a thing, People! Therefore, I detached the hood from the coat and threw it in the washer and hung it to dry. 

(Little secret: You can actually machine wash most treated genuine leather and fur with regular detergent, as long as you hang it to dry and reshape it while it’s drying! Manufacturers don’t like you to know this trick, but you learn these kinds of things when you invest only a dollar in Goodwill finds! Note: doesn’t always work on suede.)

So what I noticed once I got it home was that both the fur and the hood itself were removable with buttons and button holes. This gave me an idea!

I live in South Carolina, and winter barely ever gets below freezing. As a result, I usually end up wearing this leather jacket all winter. I thought....Wouldn’t it be nice if it had a hood in case I’m out and about and the temperature drops suddenly?

I examined the collar to see where the best placement would be to sew on some buttons. I opted for right in the seam and under the collar. That way, they would be unnoticeable when I took the hood off, and easily removable if I ever get tired of having buttons on my jacket. (Read: In the seam, the holes wouldn’t puncture the leather.)

Fortunately, I had five matching black buttons in my inventory.

Here is a view from the outside of the coat. I started by finding the middle back seam for the first button, and then measured the other four buttons out from the middle.

When sewing leather, you should probably have thimble close by. 

Here are the buttons sewn onto the second jacket.

And here is the hood with fur trim attached to the second jacket. Looks like it was made that way, doesn’t it?

_________________________________________________________________

Second Idea: Fur trim on an existing coat.

So...just so that I could get the most out of the luxurious fox fur trim, I decided to make it “addable” to a dressier coat that I have. I really really like this coat and wear it a lot—especially with dresses. I had a feeling that adding fur trim would take it up a notch! 

(I was right! Scroll down!)

So, to keep the buttons discreet (for the times I don’t want trim), I sewed black buttons into the black part of the hood. This view is from the front.

And this is from the back. I can easily take these buttons off if I ever get tired of them without damaging the coat.

Look how lovely!

Super cute and cozy!

Now, go raid your Goodwills!

The End!

Refashioning: A 70s Floral Dress into a Tailored Slit Dress (Over Skinny Jeans)

When I'm bored, I scour Pinterest for ideas.

So, lately, I've been getting looks like these in my main feed:

I dunno...I've seen the maxi-dress-over-pants look before, and largely ignored it. However, something about it intrigued me this time. So...I kept an eye out at Goodwill for a maxi dress to play with.

A few weeks later, I found this little 70s Flower Child number:

You can see it's way too big--even dragging on the floor. I hate ruffle sleeves on me. And the V-neck is way too low. 

Still, I really liked the print and the polyester jersey fabrication, so I paid my $1.00 and took it home!

If you would like to try this, you don't have to follow these exact directions, but maybe it'll give you some ideas!

First order of "bid-ness" was to cut the horrible sleeves off.

Now...realize this: When you want to shorten a dress, you actually have TWO options. Yes, you can hem it from the bottom--which is the usual way. But I know a much easier way--especially when the neckline is way too low.

This is what you do: You pinch an inch or so at the shoulder seam. Now...I realize that this is going to move the shoulder seam forward. In other words, it will no longer sit at the top of your shoulder. However, a forward-ed shoulder seam is sorta "in" right now, so I find this to be an adequate adjustment. I'm gonna show you a few pictures of this, because it's kind of hard to see in this print.

So then, all you do is cut off the excess. I use pinking shears.

Okay, so...I really wanted sleeves. Trying to finagle the ruffle sleeves into a more fitted sleeve was...not easy. The fabric was a really weird shape. Still, you gotta use what you got. I laid another shirt on top of the ruffle sleeves as a pattern.

So, next I eased and pinned the sleeves back onto the dress.

So you can see here how big the dress is; however, notice how much nicer the V-neck sits from before. 

So, the next step was pinning down the sides to take off the excess sizing.

I sewed the side seams all the way down from the armpit to the floor to keep the shape uniform. It's now beginning to look really nice! I could have stopped here...but it's getting colder, so I wanted longer sleeves.

Notice how much shorter the dress is now. I didn't hem it. This just goes to show you that if a dress is too big, try taking the length away from the top and the sides first. Then see how long it is. 

Don't ever hem as your first alteration!!!

I added a piece of faux leather jersey to give an edgy look. But notice that now it looks sorta incomplete.

So, I added a bit more of the floral fabric. I had precious little left from the ruffle sleeves, but it was just enough to create a more uniform finished-looking sleeve.

Okay...I could have stopped there...(and maybe some of you think I definitely should have!)...but I have a million dresses...and the purpose of buying this one was to put it over pants...

so....

I laid it down on the floor...

and cut a big ol' chunk out of the front!

Not gonna lie...I was like, "What have I just done???"

But then I took it to the sewing machine and finished the slit's seam.

Here's how it looks over jeans.

And because we all love "Before and After"s:

The End!