I’ve recently acquired a few pairs of still-tagged Carhartt X02’s, and would love to convert them to be more screen accurate. Although there have a few threads over the years in regards to this, I was wondering if anyone had any decent tips, tricks, recommendations to get them to be screen accurate. I know the quilted lining needs to be removed first. I’m particularly interested in the dyeing process, and the subsequent aging/distressing/griming up of the suit.
For me, I found it was easiest to take a pair of sharp scissors and cut the lining out along the seams, and then trim away any remaining pieces to it. Then, using dark brown all-purpose Rit Dye, dye the coveralls the darker brown color. This is a messy process, so I did it in a metal tub over a propane burner. The dye process usually takes about an hour to fully dye the coveralls. Remember to stir the coveralls routinely when dying, about every 10 minutes, so that the dye job is even. I used a metal pipe to do this because the water needs to be at near-boiling temperatures. Also, keep in mind that the longer you keep the coveralls in the dye, the darker the dye job will be. I personally wouldn’t recommend past an hour, because the key is you DO want to have something of a faded look to them.
Next, let dry, and if not already done (I had an old, used pair to begin with), begin weathering the coveralls. There’s a few areas, particularly the knees, that have holes in the knee padding. But pretty much grind on every edge, particularly spots that would normally have a high traffic use from somebody who mechanics, like the elbows, seat of the pants, and cuffs. As a finishing touch, I used matte black spray paint and stained up the coveralls to look dirty and grimy.
The patches I got from Michael_Myers H20 on here. They don’t come dyed or weathered, so I spray painted them with matte dark gray fabric spray paint.
When they were drying, I thought they might have dried too light, but after adding all the grime paint to them, they ended up looking exactly how I wanted them to:
Although I’m not expecting a step by step procedure of the way Joegrizzly converts these, has he ever discussed how he does it?
I would love to have him do it, but the current cost is a little out of my budget at the moment. I figured I would ask around to get an idea of how to go about converting them.
Not sure if anyone might know this one (or if anyone is reading), but are the patches hand stitched on? I saw pictures of a screen used pair that appeared to have hand stitched patches instead of neat sewing machine stitches. Anyone have any insight into this?
