Sewing Project for Jewelry Storage

At coffee last week with Dorene, Sharron & Lynda, I picked up a wonderful idea from Dorene. THANK YOU, D! She had been frustrated with her jewelry storage and found an over-the-door pocket type storage hanger to solve her problems. I immediately picked up on that suggestion and instead of looking on line for what I wanted, I decided to set about making one. Now that mine is finished, I found that for $14 I could have purchased this one from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Household-Essentials-01943-80-Pocket-Organizer/dp/B0010XX7ZQ/ref=acc_glance_k_ai_ps_t2_t_4

That would have been too easy! And look, that one is double sided and has 80 pockets!! I bought some white vinyl with a flannel back and some heavy clear vinyl. I didn't have a pattern, so in my usual fashion, I began rotary cutting and figuring it out as I went. Here is what I ended up with.

I have this hanging on the back of my master closet door.

My version has 40 pockets, although with the gaps in between rows I probably could have squeezed them together and made another row. As it is, I had just enough slots for my bulky necklaces. The Amazon design looks to have smaller pockets so some of my pieces may not have fit in it anyway. As Dorene suggested, I put matching earrings with those necklaces that have them. This has freed up my jewelry drawers for all my smaller necklaces so they aren't all in a tangle like they used to be. Now that I see my pieces like this, I better not buy any more black or brown necklaces!!

The biggest struggle with sewing this was trying to scrunch all that stiff vinyl around my sewing machine as I stitched the pockets in place. It's not the best job of sewing I've ever done, but aside from posting it here, my husband and I are the only ones who have to see it. He wasn't thrilled that it covers the door handle, but how often do we close the door when we are in the closet?? Yeah, like never!

If I had it to do over again, I would just buy an organizer, but then again, there is something to be said for the feelings of accomplishment and creativity.