Hello Ribbon Retreat readers! I’m Melissa, from Melly Sews, and I’m happy to be here to show you my Jewelry Travel Bag.
This looks like a cute little clutch, but open it up and you find see through compartments to store your jewelry!
To make your own, you’ll need the materials in the picture below. I used Moda Crossroads Denim in Teal for the outside and Riley Blake Andrea Victoria Gold Wish for the lining and trim. I also used two 14″ zippers in Marshmallow , a little bit of clear vinyl, a pearl snap and a small amount of polyester stuffing.
Start by laying your vinyl on top of your zipper along one edge and stitching it to the zipper. If you find your presser foot sticking to the vinyl, try reducing the foot pressure, or try putting a piece of tissue paper between the foot and the vinyl. The paper will tear off easily after stitching.
You’ll cut your zippers off even with the edge of the vinyl (red line is stitching).
Now lay your vinyl/zipper combos on the lining piece and stitch in place along the other side of each zipper.
To divide the vinyl portions into compartments, stitch single fold bias tape down over the vinyl. Want to know how to make custom bias tape? See this tutorial.
You don’t want to pin on vinyl, so to hold the bias tape in place for stitching, I just used transparent tape.
The tape peels off fairly easy after stitching, though it will peel in three pieces.
Stitch more single fold bias tape across the bottom of each vinyl piece to secure the bottoms of the compartments.
Fold your three rectangles in half, right sides together, matching the long edges. Stitch. Turn the tubes right side out and press.
Take the smallest tube and stuff it – it helps to roll the stuffing into tubes and poke it in with the stick from the tube turner. Don’t fill this too tightly – you want it to hold your rings, but you don’t want to have to push too hard to get the rings on.
On one end, push the raw ends to the inside and stitch across the end.
Add a snap or velcro to the closed end of the tube and to the lining. Make sure your lining snap end is 1/2″ in from the edge.
Press raw edges in on your other two tubes as well, then stitch one onto the outside fabric as shown, stitching around the end in a square. Repeat with the other handle at the bottom edge, where the pin is in the picture.
Pin bias tape around the edges, mitering the corners. Don’t know how to do that? Check here.
Then fill your bag with jewelry…
And fold it up to jet set off.
Thanks for having me – it’s always a pleasure to work with The Ribbon Retreat. I hope you’ll find me online and say hi! Want to see what else I made with the awesome fabric I used for my Jewelry Bag? Check out these adorable Sew Collapsible Boxes.

Thank you Melissa! I am in love with this bag! It sure beats putting all of my jewelry in a Ziploc baggie…which is my current organization/storage method while I am traveling. They don’t work that great! I will be adding this fun little bag to my to sew list right now! The see through compartments make it so easy to quickly find your jewelry for the day without doing a bunch of digging! This organizer is such a brilliant idea, and I can’t wait to go on my next vacation carrying this little beauty in my bag.
Thank you again Melissa! If you love this little bag, you are sure to love the rest of Melissa’s creations. She is a very VERY talented seamstress and pattern designer! For more amazing sewing projects, check out her blog at Melly Sews.
Do you have jewelry scattered around that needs a new home? This bag is perfect for you, and you can get all of your fabric, zippers and other bag supplies here. The Ribbon Retreat has so many great fabric options for you to choose from!
Thank you once again for joining us as we celebrate BAGS! If you would like to view the rest of the bags we have featured this month (and all of those before that), visit our Bag Tutorials page for more incredible bags just like this adorable Jewelry Travel Bag.
Speaking of travel…are you going on a vacation anytime soon? Or, have you recently returned from a vacation?
Let’s here all about it!
Happy Creating & Happy Bag Ladies!