A new way to dye Easter eggs is with silk neckties!

Did you know that you can dye Easter eggs with old neckties? Well, you can!

I recently raided hubby’s closet in search of old neckties that he doesn’t wear anymore.

He asked what I was going to do with them, and when I told him that I was going to dye Easter eggs with them, he just rolled his eyes. I’m sure that he thought I had lost my mind!

He’s a retired Optometrist, and now that he’s not going into the clinic every day, he rarely wears a necktie, so he won’t miss the ones that I procured for this project!

Plus, it’s a great way to purge some old ugly ties out of your husband’s closet!

 

This project may end up being a new tradition in your house!

It’s so much fun to do with a friend or your children!

And it’s a lot more fun than using the typical dye kits found in the stores!

~~~TIP: You need 100% silk for this to work!~~~

To begin, you will need a variety of silk ties.

Usually ties will have a label on the back side, and if it’s 100% silk, it will be on the label.

If it’s not on the label, then odds are that it’s not 100% silk.

You can also use silk blouses, scarves, etc. Thrift stores are a great place to find old silk ties, and they’re usually pretty cheap.

Here’s the selection of ties that I scavenged from hubby’s closet.

~~~TIP: Bright bold colors and patterns work best!~~~

I found that the pale, pastel colored ties don’t work as well as the bright and bold colors and patterns.

Darker blues, purples, and reds work really well so look for those!

And sometimes, the uglier the tie, the more beautiful the Easter egg will be!

~~~Step One: Deconstruct the Tie!~~~

The first step is to deconstruct the tie.

On the back side, cut the seams and remove the lining, leaving only the silk of the tie.

~~~STEP TWO: Wrap the egg!~~~

Cut a piece of the silk large enough to cover an egg.

Wrap the egg with the right side of the fabric against the egg.

Try and wrap the silk as tight as you can.

You want the silk to have as much contact with the egg as possible so that you get a clear imprint of the pattern. Otherwise, you will end up with sort of a watercolor effect, which is still very pretty, so don’t worry if some of the eggs come out that way!

Each one will be unique and one of a kind! Just wrap them as smoothly and tightly as you can for the best results.

Once you have the egg wrapped, tie the end with a twist tie.

After the eggs are wrapped in silk, you will need to wrap them again with a light colored, lightweight piece of fabric like an old sheet, pillowcase, or thin dishcloth.

I used an old dishcloth that’s made out of thin muslin.

Tie it around the silk covered egg with another twist tie.

~~~STEP THREE: Cook the eggs!~~~

After you have all of the eggs wrapped up, put them in a large pot and cover them with water at least 2 inches above the eggs.

Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar and bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Simmer the eggs for approximately 20 minutes and then remove the eggs. Allow the eggs to dry and cool.

Once the eggs are cool enough to touch, you can remove the fabric and see your beautiful creations!

~~~STEP FOUR: Unwrap the eggs!~~~

This is the fun part! Each one will be a little bit different!

~~~STEP FIVE: Enjoy!~~~

I’ll show you some of the eggs that I tie-dyed! Some turned out great, and a few were more swirly with a watercolor effect.

This one is probably my favorite, the pattern showed up so well on this egg.

This bright red tie came out a fuchsia pink with the stripe down the middle.

Your results will depend a lot on how the pattern of the tie is wrapped on the egg.

The pale yellow tie didn’t have a good result.

It’s very pale, and I prefer the brighter bolder patterns.

This tie didn’t transfer well at all, but I may not have wrapped it tightly enough.

~~~TIP: Try using blown out eggs so that you can enjoy them longer!~~~

Of course you will want to store them in the refrigerator until you get ready to display them.

Or you could blow out the eggshells before dyeing so that they last longer.

I hope you enjoyed my latest Easter egg project! If you decide to try dyeing eggs with silk neckties, let me know how they turn out!

Cheers, Cindy

 

You may also like to see how we made  French style Easter eggs!