DIY envelope liners add style, extra protection, and a high-quality feel to your correspondence. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a beautiful envelope liner that’s both elegant and efficient.
Envelope liners elevate the elegance and the perceived quality of any envelope. Despite the lovely results, making DIY envelope liners doesn’t have to be a daunting task! In this simple but comprehensive tutorial, I’ll guide you through the process step by step.
This minute-long video illustrates exactly how easy making a DIY envelope liner can be:
The envelope liner paper in the video is from The Letter Writer’s Complete Resource.
To make DIY envelope liners, you’ll need a pre-addressed envelope, any large-ish piece of decorated paper, scissors, and a pen or a pencil. It’s best to address the envelope before inserting the liner. Keep in mind that the liner may compromise the envelope’s surface smoothness, which could lead to bumpy writing or unexpected ink spatters!
Now, open your envelope’s top flap, and trace around the entire envelope over your piece of paper.
I recommend tracing around your envelope in pencil because you can erase any rogue pencil marks! It’s not outside of the realm of possibility that you might accidentally write on the envelope as you’re tracing around it. (I used a pen — which shows up well in photos — for today’s tutorial.)
Now, use some nice, sharp scissors to cut out the liner. Try your very best to cut inside the lines you traced so you’ve got about 1/8″ – 1/4″ (3 mm – 6 mm) between your cut and the lines, as shown below.
Once you’ve cut the liner out, it will look something like this:
Complete the process by sliding the envelope liner into the envelope. If the liner covers up too much of the adhesive at the top of the envelope, simply cut a bit more off the bottom of the liner and stick it in again! Once everything looks good, fold the top flap of the envelope (with the liner inside) down to make a fold. Then, fold it back up and glue the top part of the liner to the envelope, preferably with a glue stick.
And that’s all there is to making DIY envelope liners! It’s a very simple and rewarding project.
I want to reiterate that you can use any piece of paper to create DIY envelope liners. It’s entirely possible to breathe new life into paper goods by transforming them into an envelope liner! So, whenever you see a piece of paper that catches your eye, save it for later! It might be just the thing that a future snail mail presentation needs.
Here’s a suggestion if you are sending out a lot of one type of envelope (e.g. for wedding invitations): you can make a template using the process outlined above, then trace around that template to create several envelope liners. I can’t think of a better way to add style and a little bit of extra protection to snail mail! I’ve been ogling the beautiful liners shown in the invitations showcased on the Indian Cotton Paper Co. Instagram, and there’s no reason a person couldn’t DIY something just as impressive.
Patterned papers for envelope liners abound! Explore thrift stores as a resource for vintage books or magazines, which can be repurposed by cutting their pages into DIY envelope liners. Old wallpaper samples or wrapping paper can also make awesome envelope liners. I’ve even used some of my calligraphy practice pages to line my envelopes.
TPK has three resources for pre-designed patterns: The Letter Writer’s Complete Resource, The Bluebird Bundle, and the Parisian-Themed Printable Stationery Bundle. All patterns were hand-illustrated and lovingly designed.
The Letter Writer’s Complete Resource features:
GET THE LETTER WRITER’S COMPLETE RESOURCE
The Bluebird Bundle features:
The Parisian-Themed Printable Stationery Bundle has one Parisian everyday life toile pattern available in two colors: blue or black.
GET THE PARISIAN-THEMED PRINTABLE STATIONERY BUNDLE
I hope that you enjoyed reading/watching this short tutorial. If you have any questions about creating DIY envelope liners, please feel free to ask. Thanks very much for reading and enjoy the rest of your day!
Warmly,
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