A Fishy Case… for a Fly Rod and Reel

This holiday season I sewed along with Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons and a bunch of other talented seamsters in the Crafty Christmas Club. We all made gifts for our family and friends, and, now that the gifts have been opened, here’s a reflection on my efforts to sew well.

A few weeks ago when I was talking to my dad on the phone, he mentioned that he needed a fabric case for his fly rod and reel but that he didn’t like the ones in the store.  Since it seemed like the perfect Christmas gift, I offered to make it for him if he’d send me a diagram and measurements of what he wanted.

The picture he sent me was of a 30″ long set of pockets with a cover flap next to a 24″ long pocket.

My dad’s fly fishing rods break down into four pieces for easy storage. When he’s ready to store his rod and reel, he’ll place the end of the rod with the reel in the open 24″ pocket and the other three pieces of the rod in the 30″ pockets.  He’ll then cover the end of the three 30″ pockets with the fabric flap and tie the straps located on the end of the cover around the whole thing to keep everything in place.

Because the rod pieces aren’t all the same thickness, the pockets aren’t all the same widths.  The 24″ pocket is 3″ wide, the neighboring 30″ pocket is 2″ wide, and the final two 30″ pockets are 1″ wide each.

I added a bit of the nice waterproof, outdoor-quality fabric I had left over from the bag I made him to carry his boots and waders to the bottom.  Hopefully it’ll add a bit of heartiness to the bag.  There’s no seam at the bottom either.  Instead the fabric is simply folded over, so the rods won’t be able to work themselves out.

I hope he likes it!  If so, I’ll be making three more so that each of his rods will have one.