Travel Toothbrush holder

At the end of the Acadia post I shared a sneak peek of the travel toothbrush holder I sewed up before I left. This is such a BRILLIANT idea!

I like to keep my toothbrush protected, safe, clean, separate from everything else. I'm not the kind of person who will just set my toothbrush on the side of the sink. It needs a holder. So when I traveled in the past I put my toothbrush in a plastic bag. It always made sense because it kept my toothbrush safe and I could throw it away after the trip and get a new clean one for the next trip. I don't use plastic bags anymore so I found myself in a predicament. My husband has always used one of those caps for the top of his toothbrush.

It's something I considered. I'm honestly not a fan of any type of plastic at all though. I would love to rid my life completely of it! I went in my husband's travel bag to observe his cap more closely and what I found was exactly what I thought I might. He's not going to like that I'm sharing this with the world...

This is a real problem people! If you use such a contraption go now, you must get your plastic toothbrush cover!!! Is it harboring bacteria and nastyness? How is one even supposed to clean these things properly? Ok enough freaking out, we can solve this problem with a washable toothbrush holder. This one you just throw in the washer after your trip.

They are so easy to make. I used the tutorial from Andrea at The Train to Crazy.  I'm new at the sewing thing so if I can do it you can to. I bet this could even be done by hand if you don't have a machine.  Since I'm still learning to sew with my machine, I did make a few rookie mistakes that I'll warn you about.

First get some washcloths. I found an entire pack at TJ Maxx and they even came with a pretty ribbon.

Next iron your ribbon if it's not flat.

The next step is to sew on the ribbon. DO NOT sew the ribbon all the way across the washcloth or it won't roll up, you'll have to tie it in the middle like this:

It still works just fine if you tie the ribbon in the middle though so you could intentionally make yours that way. Otherwise just sew the ribbon in the middle like the example below: 

Next place the two washcloths together and sew some vertical lines to create separate compartments. You will want to make sure the ribbon is out of the way or bad things happen. I know from experience, I just sewed along happily and forgot about the ribbon tails. The ribbon got all twisted and sewn to the bottom washcloth. So the best thing you can do before putting the two washcloths together is this:

Now you can sew the washcloths together.

Tada!

You can have fun with the ribbons and colors! I was so excited about it I made 3. Although I haven't tried it yet you can also make a holder with one hand towel instead of two washcloths. Happy sewing!