While I was getting organized for our trip to Europe, I realized I could use something to keep my jewelry in other than little plastic bags like I have done previously for travel.

I devised a jewelry roll with netting inside to hang my earrings.  But my first attempt didn’t go well.  Even though I knew in my mind netting wouldn’t shrink, I proceeded anyway.

I used two layers of purple prefelt with a small pocket at the bottom.  I’m not sure what I was thinking then either. On the front side I used a strip of from a silky scarf down the middle then hand dyed cheesecloth on both sides for decoration.

On the inside I put the netting in and two panels of the scarf with a thin layer of plastic wrap so the panels wouldn’t felt to the inside.  I thought perhaps I could control the shrinkage so the netting would work, but I also wanted that texture the scarf and cheesecloth would provide. Hah!

I got my texture, but the netting just puffed out. I cut it out, but wasn’t happy with the way I could fix it.

So, on to the second try.  Same layout only without the netting and the small pocket at the bottom.  I put an extra narrow piece of felt along the edges of the panels to help them felt in straight and give it some extra strength.

After I got the ruching I wanted and the felt was dry, I hand sewed the netting around the edges and a line through the middle to keep it from stretching out.  The panels were a little puffy, but their job was to hold in the earrings after being rolled so they wouldn’t fall out the sides.

I hung the earrings from the netting.

Success! I sewed on a matching ribbon to tie the roll and I was done!

Now I have to figure out what to do with the first piece of felt. Any suggestions?