Self-Made Envelopes - A Tutorial

Remember the self-made envolopes I blogged about here? Well, someone suggested I put up a tutorial on how to make them so here we go :)

Step 1: The Stencils
The first thing you need and probably therefore the first thing you have to work on are your stencils. I made mine using ruler, triangle and some scratch paper*. The easier way would be to simple use another envelople.
I'm talking about stancils (plural) because the envelopes I made required two - one for the envelope itself and another one for the inlay:

If you like, you can also make a stencil for an address field. Mine is a simple rectangle - 7cm x 4 cm - with round edges. I myself don't use a stencil for that as it can be easily drawn with a triangle.

Step 2: The Material
Next, you have to choose the material you want your envelopes to be made of. There are various options. You can for example print out patterns or use old newspapers, wrapping material or paper bags** like I did. Here are my ideas:

When you decided to print out something you're pretty much done at this point with step 2 of this tutorial.
When you went for other material, like the paper bags or the newspapers you now have to prepare it. Preperation in this context means cutting things in shape an maybe also ironing them:

Step 3: Draw and Cut
Now we're at the point where I normally get the feeling that I need more hands than I actually have.
Arrange the stencil on the inside of the material you chose and prepared in step 2 and transfer the different shapes onto it with a pencil. Afterwards, cut them out.

 
You should then also raze out all traces of pencil that are left on your future envelope, inlay and address field.

Step 4: Fold and Glue
After everything is cut out, you can begin to fold the envelope. Therefor, slightly perforate the paper with the help of a needle and a ruler. Afterwards, the folding will be much easier and the folded edges will look nicer.

Then glue the inlay into the envelope.

After that glue the envelope together. Therefore put some glue on those two edges.

At the end, add the address field.

Now to secure everything I recommend putting your envelope under a heavy book for a little while.

Done :)

- Uta -

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* Whenever you make stencils I highly recommend using scratch paper or a piece of newspaper, it's more eco-friendly.
** Not only will mother earth be thankful when you reuse 'old stuff', it will also make your envelopes truly unique.