When you see a needlework technique that looks intriguing, are you the type of person who says, “Hey, I think I’ll try that!”? Yeah, me too. And normally, if I see a needlework technique or a finished product that boggles my mind (you know: “How Ever in the Wide World did they do that?!”), I’ll at least try working it out so I know how it was done.

I’m not going to bother with this. It boggles my mind. But there are some things I know I just won’t ever do, and this is one of them. Still, I find it amazing that someone out there did do it, and in the scheme of All Things Easter Eggy, I can see how these things would be a show stopper!

Over on Au Feminin (a French website, so you can use Google translator if you need to) you’ll find a photo gallery of a needlework expo. And within that photo gallery, you will find five photos (numbers 55 – 60) of “broderie sur oeufs” – embroidery on eggs.

No, really! They mean it. Embroidery on Eggs. Embroidery on Eggs. On oeufs. On Real oeufs.

At first the thought occurred to me that maybe the embroidery was done separately – on a gauze or something – and then cut out and applied to the egg with glue.

Nope.

If you look at the egg #195 in the photo immediately above (that’s the one with the purple butterfly that looks like it might be done in bullion knots: how in Tarnation do you do a bullion knot on a whole egg shell?!) you can see the holes for the embroidery right below the butterfly. And in fact, on most of the eggs, if you look closely (you can see larger versions of them on the Au Feminin website), you can see the holes for the embroidery on all the eggs.

I admit that my experience with embroidery is hardly exhaustive – I’ve not tried everything, and I probably never will! – but in my experience, most embroidery involves passing the needle from front to back to front again.

How do you do that inside a blown egg?

I’ll tell you how:

Very Carefully.

So if you want embroidered eggs this Easter, and you really want to impress people, give felt, fabric, and plastic canvas a pass and start blowing those eggs!

If you happen to have any experience in the above – because you know everyone is going to be curious – do share your technique. If you don’t happen to have experience in it, but are the adventurous type, feel free to go try it and then come back and report! I’m sure we’ll all love you forever for it.

Enjoy the day!