How to 'Dye' Easter Eggs With Silk Ties

A FiberArtsy.com Tutorial

I’ve been on kind of an Easter Egg decorating kick lately. There are just so many fun ways to dye and decorate Easter Eggs! When I grew up, it was either the little dye tablets or natural dyeing with onion skins. That’s all we ever did. Well, now the sky’s the limit. You can paint them, decoupage, wrap and crackle them. Turns out you can also print on them with silk ties. I knew you could print on a silk scarf with a silk tie – see that tutorial here – but I didn’t know you could dye Easter Eggs with silk ties.

Did you see?

How to Make Felted Easter Eggs

DIY Yarn Wrapped Easter Eggs

Step 1: ​Supplies Needed:

– Raw Eggs

– 100% Silk Ties (thrift store – check the label to make sure they’re 100% Silk)

– Scrap Fabric s.a. old sheet or pillow case

– Scissors

– Thread

– Old Pot or Pan***

– White Vinegar

– Water

*** Since I don’t know what kind of dye was used on the silk ties, I boiled my eggs in an old pot. You can pick one up at the thrift store for a couple bucks. Better safe than sorry!

Step 2: ​Wrap the Eggs:

Cut the ties and the fabric into squares, large enough to wrap the eggs completely. Place an egg in a square of silk and using the thread, tightly tie off the excess at one end. You want good contact between the egg and the silk.

Next, wrap the same egg again with a square of your old bedsheet. Tie off as before. Repeat with all of your eggs.

Step 3: ​Set the Dye:

Partially fill your pot with water and add about 1/4 cup vinegar. Put the wrapped eggs in the water making sure they’re covered with water. Bring the water to an easy boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let the eggs cool completely. This is the hard part!

Step 4: ​Unwrap the Eggs

Now comes the fun part! Unwrapping your little treasures.

Aren’t they beautiful? Two of my dyed easter eggs were much paler than the others. Upon inspection, I noticed that those silk ties had a label that reads “Stain Resistant”. This means they’ve been treated with something to keep them clean. It also means the dye won’t be released like on a non-treated tie. Those eggs are still lovely, tho.

By the way, to make your Easter Eggs shiny, rub them with bacon fat. Oh, and I honestly am not sure if they’re still safe to eat. Err on the side of caution.

ENJOY!

Annette
FiberArtsy.com

Comments

[Birdz of a Feather]

These are beautiful. I also love the idea of transferring the ties to silk. I have some silk ties from my father who passed away and it would be nice to make a scarf I could wear as a remembrance :) Just wondering if you know why the eggs need vinegar to transfer but not the silk?

[fiberartsy]

That's a really good question. Not sure I have a good answer lol. Maybe because you're going from silk to silk? I honestly don't know.

[LydiaT2]

Where do you get silk ties? And why would you want to ruin them to die Easter eggs?

[fiberartsy]

Hi Lydia, I found mine at Goodwill for $1.50. Admittedly, I cringed a little when I cut them up. I tried to pick ugly ties :)

[gm280]

Interesting concept. You could buy ties at most any thrift store for a song. And then transfer their decor to the eggs. Always different ways to do things. Nice project.