Mrs. SewNSew

I am re-doing the "stinky case" with decoupage. It sure took awhile! I spent the day yesterday decoupaging the papers on. I would like to clear coat it now but don't want to ruin all my hard work.

I'd love suggestions or advice for a clear coat. Should I just use Shellac? Or a spray on Poly? Or??

Sewnoma

This is a good question and I will be watching to see what the answer is! Definitely don't trust ModPodge, even the stuff that's supposed to dry hard is always sticky forever after. *hmph*

Mrs. SewNSew

That was my experience with Mod Podge too.

ManiacQuilter2

The sewing case came out very nice. Wish I had the guts to do it to my plain plastic Bernina case.

Farmhousesewer

I just did an entire set design, for Children's Church, of comic book pages and used Modge Podge with no problem.

Rodney

Shellac and oil based varnishes will add a yellow tint. Water based finishes will dry clear. I don't remember a lot of yellow with lacquer either.
I would make a small test sample of your decoupage to test any finish first. If something goes wrong you don't want to start over.
Nice solution for a beat up case.
Rodney
Rodney

Mrs. SewNSew

I went with clear shellac so we'll see how this goes. So far I have learned that "clear shellac" is not completely clear. No matter how many times you check the box over for any missed spots you WILL find at least one when you have the shellac already in progress. NO, you cannot paint on the shellac and stick a piece of paper over it and then shellac on top-it just doesn't lie flat like you were hoping. And also, if your paper has edges that tore thinner but it looked fine after you glued it-it will look translucent after using the shellac. Also it has worked for me to put the brush in a zip lok bag between coats so I didn't have to clean it. After 2 coats today i will probably clean the brush and let it all dry and then take a look tomorrow and decide if I want to glue more paper on the thinner spots or if it needs another coat of shellac.

NapaJohn

Just as an FYI for future use, you can use a product made by Liquitex for use with acrylic paints called acrylic Gloss Medium. Here is some info:

http://www.liquitex.com/glossmediumvarnish/

Amazon carries it, but you can find it at just about any place that carries acrylic paints--Dick Blick or even Michael's.

I have used it (and artist friends have as well) for acrylic painting and you can also use it as the glue. You can apply some to most surfaces and then lay paper or other attachments (but not too heavy) to adhere to the surface and then cover with more to form a gloss finish (and it also comes in a matte medium finish). It works better to apply in thin layers, letting dry between coats. You can add more paper to top in layers if desired so it would work to patch those places missed. It will not work on an oil-based paint surface.

It's used as an extender in acrylic paint and as a glossy finish. The more you add to paint, the more translucent the paint becomes. You can also find it with texture added, including tiny beads and a lava inclusion that creates a nice texture in any color. It works well and isn't sticky when dried. If applied directly from bottle it will look cloudy initially but dries clear.

Mrs. SewNSew

Good to know Napajohn! Next time I will probably do things a bit differently.

I'm going to let the case dry for now and then I can add a few more scraps of paper to the thinner spots. Then I will give it another coat of shellac. No matter how it comes out, it will definitely be a huge improvement over how it was.

barny

Well, it looks really, really pretty now. I love it.