Rolling back the years... and the earrings.

Here I am not packed to go away to Vietnam, instead I'm sewing and blogging. Finishing THIS off in fact. Priorities, right?

In my first ever week at Uni, at the tender age of 17, I walked into Indonesian class and met Jemma. 18 months later, Jemma and I lived in the same boarding house(s) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, for almost a year. If it wasn't late and I had already packed my undies and things, I'd find a photo and scan it. As it's late and I don't want to go commando in Vietnam, I won't. 

Jemma is a bit of a modern day gypsy. She spends time here, she spends time there, and she's SHOCKING at keeping in touch when she's not in town. But when she is in town, the years slip away and it's back to the same jokes and excitement we had when we were 18 in Indonesia. So when Jemma was in town and said she was 'at a loose end' in Vietnam and I should come up and stay with her, I went home and booked my ticket. But what to make her.

Jem has a few crafty bones herself and is a style maven. She ALWAYS has awesome jewellery and has been known to make a bit. So what better for a travelling jewellery fashionista than a travelling jewellery roll? This one has 4 small compartments for earrings / pendants, four larger ones for chunkier jewellery such as bangles, and one long one for larger necklaces. 

I chose a couple of gorgeous Alexander Henry fabrics, some red text print (not sure what) that I got from Sew Me a Song, and some random newsprint fabric. Black, red, mustard and burgundy zips. Soft n stable for padding (think I have the padding thing sorted now!) and some Sara tips have helped this evolve.  I'm quite pleased with it and SURE Jemma will like it. :)

I'm not 100% happy with the sizing, but it's nearly there. This will be coming out as a pattern - I have two testers - anyone else up for giving it a go?!

Phew! It's finished, just in time. TGIFF is on at http://www.52quilts.com so whizz on over and say hi. And link me up please, I'll be on a boat swanning around the Mekong Delta in all likeliness! Now I'm off to pack my undies...