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Saturday 11 September 2021

Things to Sew for Travel [Pt 3]: Passport Organizers

Things to sew for travel
Things to sew for travel...
Are you getting ready to travel abroad? Or are you one of the adventurous souls who have already done so?

In today's third post on things to sew for travel (first post here, second post here), I'm going to be looking at passport and travel documents organizers.

This was a topic close to my heart right from the early days of this blog. About six and a half years ago, I featured a bunch of passport organizers in this post, concluding at the end that none of them had what I really wanted.

Passport and Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
What I wanted was the ability to carry two of them — i.e., for a couple — as one unit, because whenever we travel, I tend to be the keeper of the important things. However, a passport being what it is, it needs to be carried by the person to whom it belongs at various junctures. Therefore, it's convenient for an organizer to have the ability to be separated into individual "pieces".

In the end, my personal solution to the problem that I had with all of the other passport organizer designs was to add the utilitarian element that you see pictured above to the one that I made.

What is that, you ask? It's a couple of hook and loop tape adhesive dots that allow two of my Passport & Travel Document Keepers to stay together.




In May of 2019, I posted the finished design here and a month later, it was uploaded as a tutorial.

Passport & Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
A keeper for important travel documents...

Each unit — there are two shown above — has two clear vinyl pockets edged with ribbon, a secure zippered pocket, and a full length slip pocket.

Passport & Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
Full length slip pocket for paper documents...

For times when you need to show your open passport, a ribbon "book mark" keeps it at the right page while allowing the passport to be held securely in place.

Passport & Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
Handy bookmark to keep your passport open to the right page...

When the passport is not needed to be shown again and again, it can be kept closed in the angled pocket on the back.


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Another thing that a traveller is repeatedly asked to show these days is a boarding pass. Here is the clear boarding pass pocket.
 
Passport & Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
Boarding pass pocket and zippered pocket...

Here's how I positioned the hook and loop adhesive dots to ensure that my two organizers stay affixed to one another when not needed.

Passport & Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
A simple solution to a significant problem...

While the velcro dots work for me, for those who need to keep more than two of these together, a commenter had the idea to add a loop of ribbon to each.

Passport & Travel Document Keeper by eSheep Designs
Add a ribbon loop at the top if you want to keep several of these together...

You can then "lanyard clip" them to a tote bag or just use a basic carabiner clip to keep them all together.

Another recommendation I have is that if you are making these for members of your family, make them in different fabrics. That way you can easily tell whose is whose when you're on the go. (Mine aren't totally identical, by the way; the thread used to secure the book mark is a different colour.)


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Alternatives to my great idea? (-‿◦)

I did not speak favourably about those "family style" passport wallets in my original post, and I'm still not a fan. I remain firm in my opinion that they are no more useful than a ziplock bag. Sure, if you make them out of designer fabric, they look nicer, but that's the extent of it. 

Once you distribute each passport to each family member, then what? You tuck everyone's boarding pass between the pages of his/her passport — and potentially risk it falling out — and you're no more organized than if you didn't have that fancy wallet. 

BUT... for anyone intent on having something like that, here's a good video tutorial to make one from one of my favourite YouTube channels, Tendersmile Handmade

DIY Passport Wallet by Tendersmile Handmade
image courtesy of Tendersmile Handmade...

It holds up to six passports, has a couple of slip pockets behind them for documents and the whole thing zips up securely. There is also a small zippered pocket handy for SIM cards or memory cards. (It actually reminds me of the bright pink travel wallet that I got on eBay years ago.) 

Finally, for couples on the go who are not as picky as I am, here is my previous attempt at solving the passport problem: the Travel Document Folder.

Travel Document Folder by eSheep Designs
A simple travel document folder....

This is a simple organizer with five slip pockets, two of which are for passports. Made out of ribbon, vinyl, and some cardboard in the middle to give it shape, it's definitely functional for those who aren't too particular.

And still better than a fancy wallet. (-‿◦)

'Til next...

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