Whenever I used to travel overseas with the family, passport and boarding pass management for the 4 of us was something I always stressed out about.
Our last trip back in 2019, I had made a passport wallet specifically to hold all of our passports and only the credit cards I was traveling with. It was my first time designing and cutting for leather on the Glowforge. I made a lot of mental notes on what to change for “next time.”
Well…still waiting on next time. But I decided to go through my old files anyways and see what I could update and change. So my passport wallet was renovated. I also found an old paper pattern I had made for a refillable travel diary, and rather than wasting leather and space like that (I hate carrying things), I just combined the two.
I’m not a leatherworker at all. I lack any leather tools to make the edges nice and thin, but it works as is. I used the leather stitching pony from the catalog to help me out this time, and good thing too. I came out of this project with both thumbs intact and no unintentional piercings.
This is in the medium proofgrade leather. I painted it poorly with leather acrylic paint. It required much sanding after painting because I noticed that every surface in my house is covered in cat hair, which also meant that my freshly painted cover was also covered in fur…which didn’t look good at all.
It fits 2 passports comfortably and 2 cards (my original used some softer leather, so I was able to jam 5 passports into it). My husband told me I should have changed the shape of the pocket to make the passport easier to pull out…but I honestly wanted it deep because I’m so scared of losing them.
I also tried my hand at a small removable keepsake folder for the inside…I only added this because it was part of my original paper pattern…though I can’t for the life of me remember why I made it (it’s been a number of years). I changed it a little to add space for a couple more cards, but I wouldn’t put anything important in it, probably pictures and admission tickets and whatnot.
Anyways, I can cut up some printer paper and slide it in under the elastic to hold it in, and my pen sits well on the closure. The design is simple enough to be put together quickly. I like it…and I have found that keeping it on my desk is very distracting…I keep looking up airline tickets and travel regulations instead of working…
