Sizing it up

Well, I knew what was a natural consequence of posting the envelope tutorial but, at the same time, I was a little wary as to what would be involved (ie. lots of guesswork and testing the guesses out on unsuspecting pieces of paper or Pythagoras and posting a mathematical formula on this blog). But, what for, you may ask?

I thought that it would be handy for anyone who found the tutorial useful to know how to increase the size of the envelope to accomodate bigger cards. Anyway, after I had created a little mountain of test envelopes (in other words, I gave Pythagoras a wide berth out of laziness...who would have thought that I have a background in science - certainly not me!), I went crying to Hubby and he worked it out in a snap. Thanks Hubby, you're my hero!

Anyway, rather than bore all of you with the details, I've created a table for the conversion. You are welcome to use the formula below if your card is not in the list of measurements, or you need more exact measurements to work from as I've rounded up to make the measurements easier to use. To make the bigger envelopes, you don't have to change anything other than the size of the piece of paper.

Just a few of notes to keep in mind:
1. Always round up when determining the size of the piece of the paper to make sure that your card will fit. Better that the envelope be a little too big than it being too small to fit the card. Am I right or am I right?
2. If your card is particularly bulky, make the envelope square bigger to accomodate.
3. If you are making a batch of envelopes, try one out to make sure that you are happy with the fit.
4. The depth of the notch created by the square punch affects the final size of the envelope so it pays to be precise. At the same time, if I know an envelope size has a little bit of room (from experience), I will punch such that the notch markings are cut off so that I don't have to erase them.

Card size(cms)	Paper size(cms)	Card size(inches)	Paper size(inches)
7.5	12	3	4 ¾
9.5	14.5	3 ¾	5 ¾
10	15.5	4	6 ¼
12	18.5	4 ¾	7 ¼
12.5	19	5	7 ½
13	20	5 ⅛	7 ¾
15	22.5	6	9

Good luck with your envelopes and remember to err on the side of a roomier envelope - after all, most of us know how uncomfortable it is to squeeze into clothes that are too tight!

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The formula to calculate the length of the square piece of paper (S) required to house a card of a nominated length (C):

S = C x √2 + k
where:
        k = 1 (if measured in cms)
        k = ⅜ (if measured in inches)
        k is the length of the notch created by the square punch.

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Update: Envelope Envies

Have a look at Sue's delicious envelopes made from Stampin' Up! double-sided patterned paper. Great idea, Sue! Everyone else, treat yourselves to an excellent read and beautiful projects while you're there.

For a berry lovely envelope, have a look at Ryemilan's pretty pink creation using Berry Bliss DSP.