Thank You Sewnvelopes

Holiday thank you time!  Did you not get what you wanted for the holidays?  Well it doesn't matter, either way you should say thank you!  I whipped up some fancy 'sewnvelopes' to hold an awesome thank you card that Axel illustrated.  The front of the sewnvelope has a vinyl pocket to stick the card into for easy viewing (shown 3 pictures down).  The back side pictured directly below I made with a little snap pocket to put a little monetary surprise/Christmas bonus for my building's door-people.  They were super easy to make, wanna learn how?

Feast your eyes on the simplified individuals of myself, Axel, and of course Teeny cat.  I'm not sure what's in those boxes but it doesn't look like anything I got for the holidays... oh well.  It didn't snow either, just saying. 

Moving right along, the size of the sewnvelope you make will depend on the size of the card you have/made.  The card Axel made was 3.5" x 5" so if you want to make a bigger one, add accordingly.

I made four so I thought it would be fun to make them all in different colors but feel free to make them whatever colors you like, even mix and match!  I used coated nylon but just a 100% woven cotton would work too, even leather would be cool if you're comfortable sewing it.  So let's get started, you will need four pieces to make the whole thing: 

Front top:  7" x 5 3/4"

Front bottom:  4 1/2" x 5 3/4"

Back:  11" x 5 3/4"

Clear vinyl:  4" x 5 3/4"

Take the vinyl and two shorter pieces and line them up like so:

Sew the two closest sides in the image, right sides together 1/4" (All seam allowances in this project will be 1/4").  

Top stitch the seam you just sewn with the vinyl not folding back on itself to reduce bulkiness.

It should now look like this!!  Next cut the top into an envelope shape.  I eyeballed about 2 1/4" from the top as where to make the angle.  Mark this spot on both sides, mark the top middle and cut!  You should have this:

Do the same thing to the long piece you have left and sew the two pieces right sides together leaving the bottom open but sew the corners like the picture below, making it easier to turn and press the corners.

Once it's sewn, turn it right side out.  Fold the bottom open edge so it lays flat and press it with an iron on a very low setting if you're using nylon.  If you're using cotton, a high setting is fine.

Top stitch your folded and pressed edge around the corners like so:

Oh getting so close!!  Fold the fabric in half with the vinyl facing the outside so it looks like an envelope.  Fold it over so that about 1/8" of the vinyl is showing on the bottom and the flap almost meets the envelope corners.  You don't want it to go on or over the corners because the pointed flap won't fold as nicely.  Sew around the outside starting at the folded edge up to the top point of the envelope but don't sew on the folded part.

Time for snaps!  I used white snap fasteners.  They come in a pack with a bunch of them but make sure you get the plier tool to put them on or you will be hammering for days, and annoying your neighbors.

Mark a spot in the top middle of the sewnvelope point, cut a hole and attach the snap and socket.  Fold it over to see where it hits to make the second hole and apply the stud and snap.  Now you're finished!!!  Admire your work and then go make another!!!

As a bonus check out the repeating pattern (from a previous post) that I made into wrapping paper.  I also drew a super neat holiday party bear tag that really just brought the present all together.  Not sure how I'm going to step it up for next year, I better get to work!