Silk Egg Dying

Last week I had some of my girlfriends over and we dyed Easter Eggs. I saw this on "Martha" a few years ago and have been anxious to try it. You start out with raw eggs and pieces of 100% silk, can be old ties, scarves etc. The more contrast the better. I had scraps of tie silk.

You wrap the egg in the silk, pattern side toward the egg. Secure with a twistie.

Wrap white fabric over the silk to catch the dye that bleeds off so it doesn't run onto other eggs. We used PFD fabric hoping it might dye the fabric also. (It didn't) I put the eggs in my stainless steel and enamel pots, filled them with water and about 6 tablespoons of white vinegar per pot (for 10 eggs). Brought the water to a boil then simmered them for 40 minutes. When they cooled we unwrapped them.

What a beautiful surprise, the eggs picked up all the small patterns and colors from the silk. They say you can use the silk more than once but mine looked much lighter in color (used up). I did save my white fabric to used next year, this will be an annual project with my bee. This was a wonderful way to dye the eggs. I don't know if you want to eat them though, 40 minutes is a long time to cook eggs and the chemical dye from the silk?? Double click on the picture to see the egg patterns up close and personal!