My DIY linen invites

[tris]

As a graphic designed I knew all along that I'd go a little overboard on my invites. I wanted something a little more substantial than regular paper, so I decided to make linen fabric pocket folds to house the invites and give them a little oomph. I did them in our wedding colors, turquoise & brown with hints of berry as the accent. I also wanted them to be tropical, but not overboard. I'm also a sucker for interested typography...

 

Here's all 20-some hours of my work:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for how I did it! The "linen" I used is actually cross stitch fabric. You could use any type of fabric for this. Imagine the possibilities! The print is done on 110lb linen paper, but could be printed on really anything.

 

Supplies:

• Large craft paper
• Scrapbook paper
• Glue gun
• ruler
• Scissors
• Utility knife
• Ribbon
• Fabric of choice
• Pencil
• Spray Glue (optional)

 

 

Step 1: On a large sheet of card stock in a similar color to your fabric of choice measure out the basic structure out of the invite. The final invite size I went for was 6.5"x6.5" (in retrospect I wish I would've done them 6"x6", it's much easier to find envelopes and you'd use much less paper later on - so I'll give the measurements for both).

 

For 6.5" - measure out rectangles of 6.5"X13"

For 6" - measure out rectangles of 6"X12"

 

Step 2: Cut them out using an utility knife if you can (scissors work but the knife/ruler combo gives you much more control)

 

Step 3: measure out the center and fold using a bone folder (if you have, if not just fold by hand)

 

Step 4: Get out your fabric ! Cut out rectangles that are approx 3/4 of an inch or 1" all around larger than your structure. Basically give it a comfortable border. The cut doesn't need to be perfect, you'll see why next.

 

Step 5: As you can see, here's the invite structure with it's soon to be fabric covering. I use spray glue to keep it nice and tacked down. It's not necessary, but it's really handy.

 

Step 6: Put a little spray glue on the one side of the structure and stick it down. Wrap the other side of the fabric around. This way the card stock doesn't warp.

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Step 7: Now, using a glue gun, put a small drop of glue in each of the corners and fold the corners in.

 

Step 8: After all 4 corners are folded in, move to the shorter sides, putting a thin line of glue along the edge and fold them in. Then do the same with the longer edges.

 

Step 9: Cut out 6.5"x13" rectangles from scrapbook paper. Since most paper is 12"x12", 6.5X12 is just fine, the other inch will be covered anyway. If you're going for the 6" invite, cut them out 6"x12" (basically cut the scrapbook paper in half, super easy). After you have it cut out. Score and fold so that you have a 6.5"X6.5" square on at least one side (for the smaller invite 6"X6")

 

Step 10: Time for some more gluing! With the fabric covered structure folded, line up the scored folds of the two pieces and start by gluing the one side with the glue gun. Then the second. Make sure the folds match up! Otherwise it won't fold properly.

 

Step 11: Ta DA! As you can see on the one side the paper doesn't go right to the edge. That's the side the pocket fold is going to go on. Let's move on to that.

 

Step 12: The pocket fold paper is made out of card stock. It's 6.5"X3.5". Measure in 1" on each piece and score/fold.

(for 6" invite, 6"X3.5")

 

Step 13: Using the same technique as before, cover the pocket fold with fabric. The 1" folded piece only needs to be 1/2 covered. Just make sure the 2.5"X6.5" is nicely covered with about 1-2" going over onto the fold.

 

Step 14: Line up the folded piece with the edge of the pocket fold. Using a good amount of glue, glue the fold down to the edge (as shown).

 

Step 15: Now using a carefully placed line of glue (glue gun!!!) press down one side at a time making sure the glue doesn't run.

 

Step 16: Using spray gun (or any glue you'd like, as I said before, I like spray glue) stick your invite in. The main invite is 6.25"X6.25" allowing for a small border and a pop of color. I did my invites with 3 inserts plus an RSVP. These can be designed at any size you'd like depending on how many you use and how you want them to overlap.

 

Mine are the following sizes:

RSVP: 5"X3" (to fit an RSVP envelope)

Accommodations: 6"X5.5"

Info Card: 5.25"X5.5"

Itinerary: 4.5"X5.5"

 

Now here is how I made my belly bands

 

Step 1: Using craft paper (scrapbook paper or any card stock would work fine), cut 1.5" strips.

 

Step 2: measure them out to size so they fit comfortably over your invites. Not too tight, but not to loose. I found basically giving it about .25" breathing room was a good call.

 

Step 3: glue them together and trim them so that the overlap is in the middle (and will be covered by the monogram)

 

Step 4: I used a translucent ribbon... so that made this more difficult. I had to make sure that the glue was only used in small dots in the middle of the band. If you use a regular ribbon, your life will be 100X easier.

 

Step 5: Finally I covered the glue up with twine. I wanted to give it a bit of rustic touch. After this is all wrapped around I covered the edges up with the monogram.

 

So that's how I did it.

[Teira1031]

So for the third time in the last hour i have to tell you how talented you are! These are so amazing and a great tutorial!

[fmichelle]

Wow, you should sell your amazing work somewhere. This goes way above and beyond the usual DIY project.  This will be an invite people will have to save for years to come.

[krsmith]

Holy cow that looks INTENSE! They are wonderful though! Definitely go into business with that!

[QueenDiva]

Now, why aren't you in business doing this for brides to be??

[daizedandconfuzzed]

wow....those look fantastic..and I have to agree you should be doing this for all us "un crafty" brides-to-be, i would be delighted to recieve this invite!!!!

[tris]

Awww, thanks ladies ! I'm so happy with how they turned out.

 

I am a graphic designer by trade, so I do actually get paid to do this ! Hehe. I work for a local Advertising company doing logo design & branding for companies, and I have a little freelance business on the side doing wedding invites & other fun stationary (I have a link in my sig).

[acireta]

oh my, those are gorgeous!!

 

Not only did you do an amazing job on the invites, your instructions are awesome. I'm DIY-challenged most of the time, and I could actually follow this! Thank you so much for a good lesson and great inspiration!!

[lisa203]

So impressive! Nice work!

[tris]

acireta - Thanks! I was worried I wasn't including enough, so I kind of overdid the steps . In the end it's not that hard to do, just time consuming, that's all.