DIY Mailing Envelopes

Today I'm going to share a thrifty tip that I found on a blog called Patchwork Posse: making your own packaging envelopes.

First of all, you may be wondering why I even thought of this. Well, to be honest, it caught my eye because it's really cute packaging. Then I found out the money it could save me, and I was hooked!

Here's the cost breakdown:

6x9" envelopes - purchased (0.08), made ($0.02) - You can make 4 for the price of buying 1.
9x12" envelopes - purchased ($0.10), made ($0.04) - You can make 2 for the price of buying 1.

Maybe that doesn't seem like much to you, but after you've bought 25 of each, you're saving $3.00, plus the packing tape you would usually have to seal them with. The thread to sew these packages together doesn't even come close to the cost of tape, and this has the added bonus of being cute in a rustic kind of way. (Can you say that about those other envelopes?)

I realize this isn't for everyone, but I really like it and thought I'd link to it in case anyone else would like to make these, too.



Here's one of my packages of fabric, ready to be mailed. I blurred it to avoid showing the addresses, but I hope you can get the idea. I've discovered that these packages are much thinner, for some reason.

Another benefit of this packaging is that you can make these any size you want. If you're mailing an odd-sized item, you can customize the envelope size to fit it.

For my purposes, I found that the 28"-wide paper was the better deal, since I wasn't wasting any paper that way. Here are the cutting sizes for 6x9" and 9x12" envelopes:

6x9" - Cut a 10" length of paper, then cut it in half width-wise. You end up with two pieces measuring 10x14". Fold it in half along the 14" side, and you have two envelopes that measure 7x10", which should be about right after you sew the edges. No waste!

9x12" - Cut a 10" length of paper. Fold it in half along the 28" side, and you have an envelope that measures 10x14". You can trim the extra 1" off the edge to make it 10x13", or just leave it as is. It doesn't cost any extra to mail that way, so I just leave it. Again, no waste!

To see the rest of the details on making these envelopes, check out Patchwork Posse's great post.

Enjoy!

P.S. I've mailed quite a few of these already with no problems. Just make sure you tie off the ends of the threads and clip them close so they don't get caught in the machines at the post office.