One way anglers might keep busy while awaiting the next fishing season is to decorate their lodges or homes with fishing-styled decor. A fishing creel is one item that gives a feel of fishing lodge and keeps thoughts on the water and days spent angling. Building a miniature creel will take a few hours of time, giving you more opportunity to enjoy your hobby when you can’t get onto the water.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Things You’ll Need:
- Sail canvas or stiff burlap sack
- Small shoe box
- 2 yards of 1/8 inch leather strips
- Fabric glue
- Scissors or leather clippers
- Fly-fishing fly with snap swivel
Step 1
Set the empty shoe box onto a flat work surface and bend the stiff burlap or sail canvas over the box. This will be the basic outline and shape of the miniature fishing creel. Cut out the pattern of the creel in the fabric as it is wrapped around the box. Set aside the excess fabric.
Step 2
Lay out one yard of the 1/8 inch leather strip and slice it down the middle with a scissor blade, making two lengths of 1/16 inch strips. Cut down these 1/16 inch strips into sections that can be wrapped around the shoe box pattern and fabric. Go lengthwise around the box with each leather strip, then go down every 1/2 inch adding another strip.
Step 3
Take the other piece of cut out 1/16 inch stripping and wrap it around the width of the box. Measure one wrap distance and then cut the strip into several strips of this length. Like you did with the length strips, wrap the width strips around the box and then go down 1/2 inch with each additional strip. The result will be a criss-cross, square-shaped series of leather strips.
Step 4
Lightly glue one side of each leather strip and glue them to the fabric. Weave every other piece of length versus width stripping so they make checkered boxes, like a leather-stripped net. Continue until the entire fabric has been made to be checker boxed with the leather strips.
Step 5
Turn the shoe box over with the creel net dried and in place. Take the lid of the shoe box and cut away the small edges where it fits over the box itself. Cover the lid with a piece of the remaining fabric or burlap. Use the remaining leather pieces to criss cross and make the checkered creel cover. On the top of the cover/lid, attach old fly-fishing flies and snap swivels for decoration.
