Travel and Passport Wallet Pattern

Going away somewhere exotic or far-afield?  Or maybe you just need somewhere to keep your passports and travel documents safe between trips so you’ll always know where to lay your hands on them.

The Pattern of the Month for March is the essential family travel and passport wallet pattern.  It can hold travel documents for a family and speed you through check in and security without having to rummage through bags to find everything.

Features

This handy travel and passport wallet pattern has:

• Two short pockets for ID cards, credit card etc
• Two medium pockets for your passports
• Two larger pockets for boarding passes or e-tickets
• Two large pockets behind for other documents or extra passports
• An elastic pen holder
• Optional clip to hold locker or luggage keys
• Sturdy design
• Loop and button closure
• Finished size approx – 9.5 inches tall, by 5.5 inches wide, by 0.75 inches deep

It's also nice and easy to sew.  The only tricky part where you need to be quite neat, is sewing the binding around the outside.  Check out these earlier articles on binding and practice a little before hand if you need to.

 How to make continuous bias binding

Continuous bias tape calculator

How to sew neat binding corners

Materials needed

• Fabric – quilting weight cotton
• Interfacing of your choice
• Fusible fleece
• Ultra-firm interfacing such as Peltex or a stiff cardboard/plastic canvas
• Matching thread
• Button and hair elastic
• Optional – swivel clasp (I used this one HERE)

Let's see what the Pattern Testing Team made

Theresa at the DIY Page – From the moment I saw the pattern I knew I wanted to sew it. Many of my friends are snowbirds and it would make a great gift for them.  I did the button differently, since hair tie elastics are not something I have on hand. From my husband's travel wallet, I made a belt strap instead to go with the luggage theme of the fabric. 

Louise – I liked it. I may use it more for coupons and fabric swatches rather than passports, etc, since I had just ordered one that is rfid protected. Loved use of different colors, and colored hair elastics for the closure.

Emma – I thought it was a great design and will be a useful item for travelling – in fact I am off on holiday this Saturday and will be taking it with me!  I stabilised one side of each pocket piece and used fusible fleece for the front/back cover sections. I first of all cut two pieces of mount board – but thought it would be too stiff.  An idea for an addition – possibly a plastic clear patch pocket on the front for a name or ID to be slipped in?

Diane – very cute – liked your choice of fabrics – something we all need. 

Jemma – I liked the shapes of the curves and that it has lots of pockets.

Linda – When I first saw the pattern, I was thinking what I great idea. I've seen a lot of wallet pattern on the net but I had never seen a pattern for a travel wallet and for having traveled with my family this would of been so handy to have. None of those documents fits into a standard wallet and they are so precious so to have them all in one place is great. One place to check before leaving home that you have everything you need. I love all the pockets so it can contain so many documents but easy to find them. The pen holder and the key holder adds to the wallet making it more complete. Great pattern and could make wonderful gifts. Great also for using those pieces of fabric that are left over from other projects!!  

Sarah – I wasn't sure what to expect. I do not travel by any means other than by car. Despite living directly on the border with Canada I don't have a passport either. We use enhanced driver licenses. I had no preconceived ideas about the project when I began. This is a very quick and easy project that sews up nicely. I selected intermediate skill level because it is necessary to have experience with using binding. 

Sara from Made by Sara – It is a great wallet! It has all the important pockets to carry all travelling documents. I love everything about it! I love all the details like the swivel clip and the pen holder. You have thought of everything!  I made my front pockets out of clear vinyl so the cards could be seen without taking them out.
I was hesitating on rating this pattern as a Beginner or Intermediate because of the bias binding, but I could see myself doing it when I was a beginner… I would say any beginner who is a bit more adventurous, confident, would manage to make this pattern. Maybe you could rate it as a Confident Beginner?

Diya from the Hobby Harbor – super useful. That describes it best.  It was a breeze to sew it up.  I added a light cardboard to the curved pockets as well for stiffness.

Robin from The Pattern Tester – I really like the travel wallet, and find that it will be a useful pattern for most people. I would rate it an intermediate pattern because the binding can be a little tricky if you're not use to it, and also sewing around the curved pockets. I don't care for the elastic pen holder. I'm not sure if it will work if you use a larger pen, and then switch to a smaller sized pen, due to some stretching. I prefer to make a pocket for the pen, but may just omit it altogether because I'm afraid of a pen leaking on my passport.  

Diane C – it's done in time for my sister's trip to Japan.  I really like how nice it turned out.

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