I have been in love with suede since I discovered its sensual softness back in high school. I first splurged my clothing allowance on a brown suede jacket, then my graduation-gift money on a knee-length suede coat the color of a Russian Blue cat. Which is gray. Yum. I felt SO sophisticated!
So there's no way I'm going to cover up the delicious texture of suede on shoes even with the Lumiere paint I love to use. However, there's no denying that suede shoes CAN come in colors that don't go with anything in my wardrobe. Like these salmon-colored wedges, which were actually on sale and in my size.
The solution I found was a wonderful suede dye from Angelus, which I discovered online at Turtlefeathers. I chose two colors, Purple and Blue, because when you're dyeing, you have to go darker than the color you start with. I used the purple on the upper of the shoe and around the top of the wedge, then transitioned to blue to create the effect of a night sky.
It takes two or three coats to cover, but the dye is not expensive and it goes on easily. When you're done, you just brush up the surface of the shoe and it's as soft as when you started. The shoe I ended up with is called Skyline Wedge.
Of course, I also did a few other things to this shoe besides dye the suede, but that's the kind of girl I am....
Yes, you could use the same product, BUT it would take you forever to cover the whole dress, plus you'd need at least two coats of dye as it wouldn't absorb evenly with just one coat. You might find a professional cleaners/dyers who could do it for you if you are willing to spend the money.
Posted by: Margot | February 06, 2013 at 10:01 AM
I have a vintage suede pale yellowish dress ( its not flattering, i look naked when wearing it! AH!) Id love to dye it, well any colour really... do you think i could use the same technique?
Posted by: sarah | February 06, 2013 at 12:28 AM
Margaret, the Angelus suede dyes come with a little woolen dauber if you buy the small bottle. Or if you buy a larger bottle (which I recommend -- suede really sucks up dye), you can order the daubers separately. These work better than a brush in my experience because it holds lots of dye. Also, your dye job will look blotchy after one coat, maybe even after two (depending on how dark you are going to dye it. But after the third coat at most it should dry looking nice and even.
Once the suede dye dries, you brush up the nap on the suede with a soft brush -- nail brush or toothbrush will do -- and you'll be amazed at how great the suede looks.
Take before and after pics and send them along!
Posted by: Margot | January 10, 2013 at 11:10 PM
Hi, thank you for this information! I am really excited to dye my light gray suede boots and see how they turn out! I only wanted to ask, is there a special brush you recommend for dying a good quality suede boots? I am a bit afraid that it would come out blotchy. I await your reply. Thank you so so much again!
Margaret
Posted by: margaret oak | January 10, 2013 at 05:01 PM
Hi there! I came across your site as I was researching ways to dye the greatest suede shoes that I just don't like the color of. Thank you so much for posting your blog and photos, as most places make it sound nearly impossible!
Coincidentally, I also want to dye my suede shoes from pink to blue - can I ask you to describe the shade of blue you got using the Angelus on the pink suede? I'm hoping for a vivid, electric blue.
Also, how many bottles of the dye did you need to coat your shoes?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give on the matter! And SO glad to know that it's possible to salvage these shoes!
Posted by: Camilla | August 14, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Can't wait to see what you do with those yellow suede Mephistos!
The little buildings are pieces of leather that I painted with various colors of Lumiere, then cut out to look like ... uh ... little buildings. Then I used Barge Cement (a leather glue) to glue them to the suede-covered wedge.
Oh, yes, and Destiny showed me how to make little windows in the buildings using black and silver Sharpies.
Posted by: Margot | April 10, 2009 at 06:42 PM
Damn! Even pressing my nose to the screen on the enlarged pic I can't figure out how you did the city scape! Is it Lumiere paints? Is it little metallic leather appliques? So I say again, Damn!
Thanks for the scoop on suede dye. I have a pair of yellow suede Mephistos that are still great but looking well used. Now I know what to do!
Posted by: Leilani Bennett | April 10, 2009 at 09:07 AM