Silk tie dyed eggs – how to and pictures

Silk tie dyed eggs – how to and pictures

Its egg time and we usually do something. Usually we dye eggies the old fashioned way, with egg dyes. Then we may stick some leaves or whatever we find around the house and make patterns on them while coloring. But that has been the extent of our creativity. Not bad, but it always can be improved. Right?

I have stumbled upon this technique for dyeing eggs with silk men ties that looked promising. So after dreaming about it for a few years I decided its time to actually try it and get it out of my head.

The recipe:

100% silk ties

eggs

white vinegar

hosiery

How: Use blown or raw eggs. Wrap the silks (face down) around the eggs tightly. Cover with another material. Boil in water (+ non metallic pot) with 1/3 cup of white vinegar for 20 min.


So I went on silk ties hunt at the op shops. The people who have posted about their experience with this adventure are mostly from the States and they seem to be able to find ties for cents. Here, we are not so lucky. I spent about 3-4 dollars on each. But I became extra proficient at recognizing silk simply by feel, which was wonderfully satisfying. I count the extra money as some sort of education, self improvement, extra skill building activity.

Then eggs.

Do you know that it is almost impossible to find white eggs around here? I say almost, because I am sure I have seen some at an obscure farmer’s market somewhere, so they exist. After visiting just about every shop I could and being faced with only brown eggies, I gave up and just chose the lightest I could find.

First night – blow the eggs. I had never done that before, so here is another skill I acquired. 4 eggs broken, but I got quite good at it by the end.

Second night – open up the ties and cut out the tags. Separate the insides and make a nice pile with them ready to use.

I was ready.

Day 3 – morning.

Silk tie eggs here I come. And I took over the kitchen bench. I offered the kids to wrap with me, but their Lego fun won over my hosiery one. I admit, I was happy about that. This part is a bit finicky.

Other people use big pieces of silk and pull them over one end and tighten it all there. I thought I had a better idea. Use as little material as possible, wrap it around the thick part of the egg and then fold each end gently. I picked up the clue to wet the silk before hand as it makes it very easy to stick to the egg and avoid air bubbles.

See, very little extra material.

Then I use the innards of the ties to tighten and secure the silk on the egg.

Here they are:

As I have the egg with the silk over it nice in my hand I start to overlay it with the long white material – basically wrap it like a mummy, paying special attention to the ends where the silk is scrunched up. The reason you want the silk to be touching all of the egg is because if it doesnt, than the ink will not transfer and you will be left with undyed bold patch.

After that I use the hosiery to tighten the whole thing even more. And I end up with…onions, as the girls declared them to be. You see I tried to wrap with string on the outside but that was not that good of an idea, so dont do it.

Next the popular recipe calls for a non metallic pot to cook the concoction in. I have nothing like that. All my pots are stainless steel. Then I remembered the – slow cooker! And I dug for it. And since people have suggested that the dyes that are released may be toxic, I took my cooking laboratory outside to avoid any possible fumes and mess.

My blown eggs dont sink, so I had to be inventive.

Here too I ignored Martha (I think this idea was first shown on her show). She called for 20 min of simmering in water with some vinegar in. After reading about many failed attempts at this technique, I had to ensure my success by any means possible. I left the slow cooker on for more than an hour. Then I switched it off and we went out for the afternoon. About 4 hours after that I took the eggs out and then another 30 min after that I couldnt wait any more.

I called the troops and held my breath. I was not gonna be a happy camper if all this work didnt reward me with at least something nice. Even a little bit. One egg, thats it, one beautiful egg is all I ask for.

Now the girls were excited. I couldnt hold cut the hosiery fast enough.

This was the best part!

The suspense, the not knowing if it worked, how it worked, which colors transferred. With each egg it was like a mini Christmas morning. FUN!

And here are the different patterns we got:

We were ecstatic!

All the dyes transferred and every egg was patterned.

Here are a few with the ties I used to give you and example of what results can be expected:

 

 

We have further plans for these little beauties.

But for now I am relieved. It worked!

We enjoyed it so much that now I will have to always check the ties at the op shops and I think this will be definitely something to be enjoyed around this time of the year.

Continues: What we did with those eggs

 

 

 

March 31st, 2010, Homemade
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