Prepping the Petal Bags...

After this post was done the other day, I decided to get started on testing my idea for the petal bags. Actually, I have a confession to make. I scheduled that post to happen on Tuesday morning, but after thinking through my idea all weekend long and not hearing any negative comments from the few people that I talked it over with during the weekend, I actually tested the bag theory on Labor Day evening.

I mean, you didn’t REALLY think that I’d spend a long holiday weekend without doing ANYTHING wedding-related did you? I might not have spent all weekend working on things, but I did spend a little time on wedding stuff!

I had purchased some adhesive for another project a while back, but having not made up my mind about that particular project yet or not, I haven’t used it yet. It’s a permanent or temporary adhesive that goes on liquid and dispenses from a cool applicator tip found at Hobby Lobby, and I figured that it was worth a shot on the petal bags.

Just like I had planned, I took one bag and cut off the bottom where it had previously been sealed. I then folded about 1/3 of an inch from the bottom and then cut out the inside of the fold. (You have to do this so that the bottom actually seals, if you think about it.) Using the glue, I applied just a thin coat (it comes out BRIGHT blue!) and then pressed the fold together along the crease that I had previously made. After just a few seconds, the glue began to change to a clear color and the bag “wrinkled” closed again, just as it had previously looked. I wonder if U-Line (where I got the glassine bags) uses this stuff too? LOL.

After setting the bag aside to fully dry, I checked on it about thirty minutes later and the seal was perfect. Looks like we were “go for launch” on this project!

To my way of thinking, it would be best to sew the bags closed first, attaching the tags as I did and get that part out of the way. But before I did that, I decided to cut the ends off of the bags and make the folds along the top of the bag before I sat down to sew. I mean, if you’re going to do a project like this, you might as well get most of the prep work done ahead of time, right?

This is what I started with... Then, I aligned the bag on my scrapbooking small paper cutter, making sure that the side of the bag lined up for an even cut. I simply cut off the end... And this is what you’re left with! After cutting off all of the ends of the bags...I decided to just do one per guest...it was simple enough to make the folds to prepare the bag to be sewn closed along the top. Using my small paper trimmer as something hard to work on (while I sat in the recliner watching a movie), I used its guidelines to line up the paper and make sure that all the folds were even.
I made a ¾ inch fold along the top. And then used my bone folder to make the crease nice and stiff. Now the bags are ready to be sewn closed across the flap that I just created. Cool, huh?

The next steps are obvious – trim the tags out and sew the tags on, closing the bags at the top. Then, I think that I’ll go ahead and pre-fold the bottom enclosure and make all the cuts for the fold to close correctly. After that’s done, there’s nothing more that I can do until we have the fresh petals in hand to fill the bags and glue them shut. But since all of the specialized labor intensive work is done (just the sewing and trimming) all of my Maids and some others that come in early for the wedding will be able to lend a hand getting this project finished quickly and easily.

Are you having to leave a few things until the last minute? Did you do all that you could up to that point where you had to stop? Or did you choose to leave the whole thing until you could finish it? I’m curious to know...