Tuesday Tutorial with Robin of Baggaraggs

Paper Bag Tutorial

When the grocery bagger asks me "Paper or Plastic?," I smile. Inwardly I giggle. 

I say "Paper PLEASE!"

My Creative self eyes these bags with Pleasure, and a KIND OF ITCHY FINGERED CAN'T WAIT FEELING! ( I am also a fan of FREE) (Warning: These envelopes are RUSTIC looking)

So what can be done with a paper bag? Well, I have made party hats, collage envelopes, and Gift bags. For a start. I think about packaging more than most folks I guess, and How I would feel about receiving a pair of earrings in an envelope like this for Christmas:

I WOULD LIKE IT!

Today I would like to show you a Gift Envelope or "Secret Keeper." 

Ready?

Ok, under your kitchen sink are bound to be paper bags, stored, folded up.

Get those bad boys out and cut the bag along a side crease down but NOT into the bottom of the bag. Cut around the bottom of the sack so you have two pieces when you are finished. It should look like this:

Well, those are the bottoms. The bag stretched out with paint on it looks like this:

Paint them. Keep in mind what you have for trims, die cuts, stamps, fabric, or what look you are going for. DON"T FORGET TO paint THE BOTTOMS of the bags because that is what we will be working with today.

They should come out looking kind of like this. Don't worry about the little jagged edges or places that do not seem well glued. This project is going to look Rustic and handmade which it is!

HOORAY for HANDMADE!!!!

Bag Bottoms. ( maybe upside down...please stand on your head)

Ok, this might be the Hardest part of the WHOLE THING!!! You have to wait until they DRY!

Then....

Snatch up one of those bag bottoms!

Fold it into Thirds. No measuring necessary here, just a rough guess. The top lip should fold down like a envelope lip. 

( I know you are looking at my dirty fingers...)

I usually start with with the lip of the envelope, adding lace or fabric or additional embellishments. So, get your Thread Pusher ( sewing machine) threaded with a coordinating thread and set it on a satin stitch. A straight stitch will cut the paper, and you Don't want that. It is better to use a wide zig zag stitch. GOT IT?

I know it might seem a little weird to sew lace or fabric to paper but it will be ok.

Add embellishments as you like. layers of them with a place to write when you are finished is nice!

If you discover some not well glued areas in the construction of you envelope, satin stitch those areas together. Then sew up your side seams.

You should have something that looks like this, well it will look like yours...

Iron IT. That's RIGHT. Cover it with a dish towel if you like and put it on steam and IRON IT!

It is now time for a grommet. ( NOT VOMIT)

I am not a measurer, so eyeball it.

I finished this one with a butterfly die cut and a rusted safety pin. So now it looks like this:

 I am sure that you can think of a million better ways to alter this...So have at it.

Thank you so much for sharing Robin!

You can find Robin here:

http://baggaraggs.blogspot.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Baggaraggs