Travel Tray

This little project is ridiculously simple… but what a novel idea! Great for the frequent traveler, it takes up no space in the suitcase, but will come in so handy in a hotel room, on the bed stand or bathroom counter. Keep all your small items together – keys, jewelry, eye glasses, etc. Along with our Bag Handle Wrap, this is my favorite travel item and has saved me more than once from losing an earring or other small item on a hotel room bed (have you noticed they ALL seem to have the same floral print bedspread?).

Materials:

- 2 pieces of fabric 7½ x 9½” (inside fabric should be solid)
- 1 piece of thin batting 7½ x 9½”
- 1 piece hook and loop tape 2½” (cut in 4 pieces) or 4 small snaps

1. You can adapt the size of this tray any way you like. Make it bigger, smaller, square, etc. Just make sure to use a solid fabric on the inside (otherwise the purpose is defeated and you will have a hard time finding small objects placed in the tray.

2. Right sides together, place the two pieces of fabric on the batting and sew edges closed, using a ¼” seam allowance and leaving a small opening along one long side for turning. Trim and clip corners. Turn inside out and press. Slip-stitch opening closed. Optional: Top-stitch along all four sides, about ?” from the edge.

3. Mark a line 1½“ from each edge. Sew through all three layers along these lines. Optional: quilt straight lines along the length of the inside rectangle, about ½” apart from each other.

4. If using hook-and-loop tape, cut once vertically and horizontally to obtain four smaller pieces. Sew onto the corners as shown. If you prefer, you can use snaps instead of the hook-and-loop tape.