my heart..... artful thursdays #4 valentine envelope tutorial

i adore ruffles. they are so sweet and feminine and make me all nostalgic: sheer ruffled cafe curtains, layered and ruffled crinoline skirts, pink ruffled glass cake stands, little ruffled lace panties for your 3 year old.

so there is no wonder i have been sewing piles of crepe paper ruffles. i finally rolled up a bunch and put them in this jar next to some vintage pink hats i have collected. they are at least a bit contained in the glass and look so fancy.


this week for my artful thursday project (it's not too late for you to join me!) i wanted to make some ruffled valentine envelopes. if you haven't ever tried to sew on paper with your sewing machine check out this sewing on paper tutorial i did a while ago.

gather a few supplies from your stash:
sturdy paper you can sew through, music paper, ledger paper, old notebook paper, etc.
crepe paper, pretty trims, tulle, stamens, paper die cuts, glue, a pencil and some scissors.


i have been making my own envelopes forever because i like interesting paper for an envelope. the easiest way is to take apart an envelope you like, trace it to your paper, cut out and glue. if you need to design your own envelope for something here is a basic easy pattern to get you started.


cut out a scrap paper rectangle 10 inches long and 5 inches wide. fold in half lengthwise. (this gives you your center) measure and mark off with a pencil 1 3/4 inches from left and 6 inches from left. these are your two folds. corner round the two left hand corners. now mark 1 1/4 inches from the right edge of your rectangle. draw a shape like mine and fold paper in half lengthwise and cut. this makes a little dip inside your envelope for your card to show through like this:


trace your envelope template onto your envelope paper with a pencil and cut out. fold the envelope paper like your template. now you are ready to add your paper ruffles or trim. you could also use lace, ric rac, gathered tulle, or ribbon for your ruffle.

open the flap of your envelope and lay it down on some scrap paper. apply a thin line of glue stick along the edge and attach your ruffle. this will hold it in place while you sew. make sure the glue is dry before you start sewing. (if you are not sewing your ruffle use tacky glue instead to attach your ruffle)


after the ruffle is in place open the flap of your envelope and lay it with the envelope opening facing down on your sewing machine. leave the bottom half folded up so you can sew it together. stitch around the ruffle and the three sides of your envelope.


now you are ready to decorate. i glued a bit of tatting over the stitches holding the ruffle in place. (did you just say, "she used what!") yes, part of using up my stash is using lovely pieces of old tatting instead of saving them forever....
this tatting was wound around an old cardboard photo mailing tube with a hand typed label.


tear a piece of old tulle (mine is from an old wedding veil) and glue it to the center of your envelope flap.

next i painted over a vintage heart shaped paper die cut. after it dried i sanded off a bit of paint with an emery board. you can paint any german paper scrap borders this same way. from an old thrift store copy of shakespeare's love sonnets i cut the words my heart and attached them to the heart with some glossy modge podge. this creates a glossy coating and makes your paper die cut a bit more sturdy.



now layer on a few glittered stamens. wire them in the center and glue in place over the tulle. if you don't have any glittered stamens make them with a little glue and some glitter.



last step is to attach your paper heart in place on the envelope flap. since the embossing on my heart is almost 1/8 inch i used some scotch brand foam poster tape.
you did it! you now have your first, completely gorgeous valentine envelope. my guess is now that you have your template you will be making a few more....
go ahead, use up that stash and make someone else feel adored this valentine's day.
xo julie