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| The travel accessory you didn't know you needed... |
Without the distribution channel and reach of Craftsy/Bluprint's pattern marketplace, creating new patterns and converting tutorials into PDFs has not been a recent priority. (None of my tutorials from over the past half year have been PDF'd.)
But on that topic, I recently updated my older tutorial posts to include links to pre-existing PDFs that had been missing from either Bluprint or Makerist. The good news is that they can now be accessed directly from here via Google Drive.
The PDF Pattern Shop link at the top of this blog is your gateway to all of my downloads.
With that out of the way, today's post is a quasi-tutorial for my Passport & Travel Document Keeper, an essential — in my humble opinion — accessory for anyone traveling by air these days.
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| An all-in-one organizer that's a great gift idea for any world traveller... |
It's your solution for the mad airport dash, where you're running from place to place and at each stop, someone wants to see your passport and boarding pass. This organizer secures your boarding pass in a clear pocket while holding your passport open at the right page. Zippered and slip pockets provide storage for whatever other travel documents you may have.
Materials Required
You'll need fabric, interfacing, clear vinyl, grosgrain ribbon (for durability), and a zipper for this project (apart from other basic sewing notions).
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| I used two different ribbons for my projects; 5/8" for the interior binding and 7/8" for the exterior... |
- 1 x Main Exterior, 11.5" wide x 9.25" high (29cm x 23.5cm)
- 1 x Lining, 10.5" wide x 9.25" high (27cm x 23.5cm)
- 1 x Zippered Pocket Lining, 8.5" wide x 9" high (21.5cm x 23cm)
- 1 x Main Exterior, 10.5" x 9.25" (27cm x 23.5cm)
- 1 x Lining, 9.5" x 9.25" (24cm x 23.5cm)
- 1 x Boarding Pass Pocket, 2.75" x 9.25" (7cm x 23.5cm)
- 1 x Angled Passport Pocket, 5" x 5" (13cm x 13cm)
- 1 x Passport Holder Strip, 9.25" long (23.5cm)
- 1 x Boarding Pass Pocket Binding, 9.25" long (23.5cm)
- 1 x Angled Passport Pocket Binding, approximately 12" long (30cm)
- 1 x Main Binding, approximately 22" long (56cm)
matching thread
* NOTE: A light weight vinyl will do for this project. I recommend checking out a dollar or discount store for a clear vinyl table cloth.
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| Two ways to hold your passport... |
Cut & Interface
Cut required fabric and interfacing. Fuse interfacing to the Main Exterior and Lining pieces.
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| Fuse interfacing to wrong side of main fabric pieces... |
Note that the interfacing pieces have been sized slightly smaller to keep them out of the seam allowance.
Set aside the fabric for the Zippered Pocket Lining for now.
Prep Vinyl and Bind
Trim the square piece of vinyl to make the angled pocket. (Since it's difficult to take a picture of clear vinyl by itself, here is a shot of the two pocket pieces after they have been bound with the ribbon.)
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| Trim away some of the vinyl to create the angled pocket... |
What you should end up with (from the original 5" x 5" square) is a piece that measures 2.5" high on the short side, 5" high on the long side and 5" wide along the bottom.
Measure and cut the three short lengths of ribbon. (Set aside the one meant for the Passport Holder Strip for now.)
Use clips to wrap the ribbon around one of the long edges of the Boarding Pass Pocket and around the two edges of the Angled Passport Pocket as shown above.
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| Mitre the corner as best as you can... |
Carefully sew the ribbon onto the vinyl, mitering the corner of the angled pocket as you go.
Install Passport Holder Strip
Take the Main Exterior and Lining pieces and pin them right sides together along one of the shorter edges. (Note that the lining is smaller than the exterior piece.)
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| Pin one edge of the lining and exterior together... |
Sew with a 1/2" (12mm) seam allowance.
Fold right side out and press so that 1/4" (6mm) of the exterior fabric shows along the edge.
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| Part of the exterior fabric is designed to wrap around to the lining side... |
Unfold the two layers of fabric and keep the exterior right side up in front of you, with the lining off to the left.
Position the Passport Holder Strip on the exterior fabric, 1.25" (32mm) away from the pressed edge that you just created. Pin at both ends.
Now get your passport and place it underneath the ribbon, centered from top to bottom. Use additional pins to mark the top and bottom edges of the passport. This will be where the strip is left open to allow the passport to slide in.
Note that most countries' passports are the same size, but thickness will differ depending on how many pages are inside.
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| Sew an open box to secure each end of the ribbon... |
Sew the top and bottom of the ribbon to the exterior piece as shown.
Install Zippered Pocket
Place the Zippered Pocket Lining piece right side down on top of the exterior piece that now has the Passport Holder Strip attached.
The top of the Zippered Pocket Lining should overhang the pressed edge of the exterior piece by 1/2".
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| Place and prepare zippered pocket lining... |
Draw a zipper placement box so that its top edge is 1" away from the top edge of the lining. (This being a quasi tutorial, I am not going to explain the whole concept of what a "zipper placement box" is.)
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| Sew along dashed black line; cut along solid red line... |
Sew all around the outside of this box (where indicated by the dashed black line). Then cut along the middle line and the angled lines into the corners (where indicated by the solid red line.)
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| Sew in the zipper... |
Push the pocket lining through to the other side, press, and then install the zipper.
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| Close up the pocket... |
Finish the pocket by bringing the bottom up to meet the top edge and then sewing it closed along the three sides.
Finish Main Body
With the zippered pocket and passport holder strip done, it's time to sew up the other side.
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| Sew up the remaining side... |
Flip the unit so that the wrong sides are out and pin together the remaining short ends. (Remember, the lining is shorter than the exterior, so this will seem uneven.) Sew with a 1/2" (12mm) seam allowance and then turn right side out.
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| Stitch in the ditch to finish the edges... |
If all has gone well, there should be a 1/4" of the exterior fabric also showing along this new edge. Stitch in the ditch along both edges (as shown by black arrows above).
Fold in half evenly and press well.
Attach Vinyl Pockets & Outside Binding
Open up the folder and place it exterior side up as shown.
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| Baste vinyl pockets in place where shown by black dashed lines... |
Use clips to position the two vinyl pockets. Baste the boarding pass pocket close to the top and bottom edges.
Baste the angled passport pocket along the bottom edge and then sew down the bound side — following the existing stitching line — to secure it to the back piece.
Re-fold the unit when you're done, ensuring that everything is still even.
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| Start binding at one open corner... |
Take your remaining length of ribbon and bind the unit from one open corner to the other. Leave at least 1/2" (12mm) of ribbon free at the beginning and tuck it in between the two layers of the slip pocket; use a clip to secure. (Check out the photo below from my tablet envelope project to see what I mean.)
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| Create a clean finish by tucking ribbon ends between two layers... |
Leave the same 1/2" length at the end to push between the layers of the open slip pocket. Once you sew down the binding, the two corners will be nicely finished with no raw edges showing.
[In my original post about this project, I showed how some adhesive velcro dots can be used to keep two of these organizers together. Check it out if you want to do the same.]
Enjoy your passport and travel document keeper!
With Father's Day coming up, maybe this is an appropriate gift for a globe-trotting dad? Or — do you have a student in your life who is graduating and planning a trip abroad? (I never did that, but it seems to be the trend these days.) Maybe send him or her off with this sure-to-be-appreciated handmade gift.
One day I might be in a position to travel overseas, and I'll know where to head.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! We travel frequently and having a place to keep all the documents in one place, with each easily accessable will be a lifesaver. To keep multiple folders together, I will probably add a small ribbon loop at the top of each and hang them all together from a lanyard clip inside my tote bag. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for sharing your thoughts and adding a solution to the mix. I think the loop will work wonderfully and will keep the idea in mind if I ever need to make more of these.
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