Silk Tie Dyed Eggs Tutorial

I can't remember whether I stumbled upon the idea of using silk ties to dye eggs in FamilyFun Magazine or on Martha Stewart first, but both have shared the concept.  All I know is that I have been wanting to try it out for years.  I even had some silk ties purchased from thrift stores and yard sales stockpiled for just this purpose (Note the pic below is not of those ties, sorry).

                                                          Image via Wikipedia

Finally, this year I did it! It was sooooo EASY and the eggs turned out beautifully! (When Digital Man saw the first ones that I made, he thought that they were professionally done, and wanted to know where I got them. HeeHee!).

You will need the following:

• 100% Silk Ties
• Scissors
• Rubberbands
• Eggs
• A big pot with lid
• Water
• Stove

1. Pick out all the stitches from the ties using your scissors. Some ties will have an off-white tie fabric inside, which you can throw out. All you want is the silk fabric.

2. Cut the silk tie fabric into as many pieces large enough to fit around your egg as possible (You will probably be able to get 3-4 pieces per tie.)

3. Smooth and wrap one fabric piece around the egg as tightly as possible. Fasten together with a rubberband.

4. Place tie wrapped eggs into a big pot and fill with water. You will want the water to come an inch above the eggs. You will probably only want to do one tie pattern at a time because the colors do tend to bleed out into the water.

5. Put pot of water covered eggs on the stove. Bring water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, remove pot from heat. Immediately cover pot with lid. Let pot sit for 18 minutes. Then fill pot with cool water to stop the eggs from cooking and to help cool them.

6. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, unwrap the eggs carefully. Let them dry.

Voila! Exquisite Eggs!
EDIT:It has been pointed out to me that the dyes used for fabric may not be suitable for consumption. If the dye goes through the shell, you might not want to eat it.

 Related articles

• Silk-Dyed Eggs (acraftykindoflove.com)

I'm linking to: