Travel Document Holder Tutorial

This is the travel document wallet you have been waiting for, with easy storage for all your family passports and boarding passes without fussy poppers and zips. So, with all your important documents safe and sound, you can relax and enjoy a glorious summer adventure. 

 MATERIALS
• 25cm main fabric – Watermelon by Rico
• 25cm lining fabric – Sprinkles by Cotton and Steel
• Medium weight card 
• 90cm, 3mm cord elastic cut into 60cm and 30cm lengths 
• Thread
• Rounded corner punch
• Scissors
• Glue 
• Single hole punch
• Pen or pencil
• Fabric clips

GOOD TO KNOW
• You could easily scale up the pattern to make larger versions to store paper work and other documents. 

 TO CUT 
Card:
–  Cut 2, 24cm x 22.5cm
–  Cut 1, 6.5cm x 24cm
–  Cut 1, 8cm x 8cm
–  Cut 1, 13cm x 10cm
Main fabric:
–  Cut 1, 27cm x 24cm
–  Cut 1, 9cm x 27cm
–  Cut 1, 15cm x 12cm
Lining fabric:
–  Cut 1, 27cm x 24cm
–  Cut 1, 10cm x 10cm

TO SEW
1. Cut out all the card pieces, we have given suggested sizes but you can alter the pockets to fit your needs. Shape the 6.5cm x 24cm to give a slanted edge, mark 4cm up from the base and 2cm along the top left edge. Join these two marks with a diagonal line and cut. Use the corner punch to round off the outer corners of the two main pieces and the outer corners of the pocket pieces. If you do not have a corner punch, simply round off the corners using scissors.

2. Cut out your fabric pieces using the measurements above or you can use the card pieces as templates, leaving a 1cm overlap on all sides. 

3. Place the card pieces on top of the corresponding piece of fabric, with the right side of the fabric facing down. Glue around all the edges of your card pieces. Fold over the fabric to the inside and smooth it down, avoiding the corner sections. Once all the long edges are glued in place, pull the corner pieces in diagonally to create a smooth edge over the curved corners. Repeat this technique for all the card pieces, covering them all in fabric. 

4. Take the pocket panels and sew around the edges that will face towards the spine of the document holder. The outer edges will be sewn when assembling the whole thing together. 

5. Using fabric or bulldog clips, assemble all the layers and the pocket panels together and clip them securely in place as shown. Sew all the layers together carefully, making sure the layers stay well positioned, all the way around the outer edge. Remove all the clips and tie off all the loose threads. 

6. Fold over the holder and use the punch to make holes along the spine, the first should be approx. 1.5cm from the lower edge of the holder. For the second hole use the length of your passport as a guide, positioning it against your first hole then create a hole slightly above where it sits. Finally create one more hole in the centre, about half way up.

7. Take the 60cm length of elastic and thread it through the holes you made for the passport, threading through at least three times. Tie the two ends together with a reef knot on the inside. Trim away any excess. These are for holding your passports, so you may need to add some more to create as many loops as you need for your family’s documents. 

8. Take another piece of elastic 30cm long and thread both ends from the outside to the inside through the central hole. Secure with a small overhand knot on the inside. This is to hold the document holder closed.