A lot of the leather used by MEW Designs is sourced from an Australian based factory, that offers ‘out sorts’ for sale. These are hides that are unable to go to the larger customers for a variety of reasons. Some are even one off test runs of new processes. Others may have been unsuitable as they are too large or too small to work with the production line of that particular customer.
Some of my favourite out sorts are the result of a failure during the application of the finishes. This can leave unique marks or patterns that are completely random.
One particular outsort had an area of stripes with a suede finish in one area with a chrome coat on their others. I realised that this would be the perfect test of how dye would take to both these finishes.
Once the colour has been added the leather is sealed to ensure that the new finish is durable and to reduce the risk of colour transfer between the leather and other surfaces.
This was then turned into a MEW Designs pattern, the Marie Tote
Creations are available in my store https://madeit.com.au/MEWDesigns
