Easter is almost here, and most of us can’t head to the stores to buy egg-dyeing kits. Rather than do our usual tablet colored or sticker eggs, this year I decided to do something slightly different with the kids: silk fabric dyed Easter eggs! The eggs are dyed by using 100% silk ties we found in my husband’s closet.
YES, you can dye Easter eggs using old silk neckties! You simply wrap them in the fabric and boil in a water/vinegar solution, et voila! It’s a lot of fun to see what comes out because each egg is different depending on the fabric and how you wrap them. When it comes time to unwrap each egg, it’s like a little surprise seeing what design each egg has. You can use any kind of 100% silk fabric to make this work. Think: ties, shirts, scarves, pillowcases. Let your creativity run wild. Happy Easter!
Supplies:
- Large sized uncooked eggs (as many as you want to do)
- 100% silk ties (you’ll need 6-7 ties if you want to die a dozen eggs)
- White cotton fabric (like an old pillow case)
- String or twisty ties (like the ones from the garbage bags)
- A large pot
- Water
- ¼ cup white vinegar
Instructions:
Step 1: Cut open each tie and remove the lining. Open them up so that they are flat pieces of fabric.
Step 2: Roughly cut each tie into 7-inch squares (doesn’t have to be a perfect square, just about 7 inches in size). This size fabric will perfectly fit around a large sized egg.
Step 3: Cut the same size pieces out of the old pillow cases.
Step 4: Wrap each egg tightly with the right side of the fabric making contact with the egg (the side with the pattern being most clear is the right side). Use a piece of string to tie the fabric tightly and as smoothly as you can to the egg. The fabric should be as tight and as smooth as you can get it without cracking the egg. The more material that makes flat, direct contact with the egg, the better the dye will transfer.
Step 5: Once the eggs are wrapped in the silk you are going to wrap them in a piece of the pillowcase material and tie them up the same way.
Step 6: Place the eggs into a large pot filled with enough water to cover them by 2 inches and ¼ cup vinegar. Bring the water to a boil, lower the flame, and simmer the eggs for 20 minutes.
Step 7: Remove the eggs from the pot using tongs and place onto a kitchen towel or paper towel to cool and drain completely. Once they are cooled, remove the fabric using scissors (be careful not to break the eggs).
