A Gift a Day Gift Twenty-Two: A Gun Case

First a Disclaimer:  I live in Alaska.  We have guns up here.  If you don't like guns, don't read this post as you won't get anything out of it :).  Just wanted to warn ahead of time.

My husband is one of those "hard to shop for" types of people.  He's one of those men that is getting to an age where if he needs something he goes and gets it, so when it comes to gift lists they usually include high dollar items that we can't afford in a GOOD year.  Normally, I look all year long and find him some cool vintage items at the used stores or yard sales.

This year I came up completely empty handed on that front.  Since the economy went downhill the used stores are being shopped more heavily, which leads to a lot of cool items flying off of the shelves before I have time to meander down to check them out.  Buying used toys for my kids, which is normally a given to pad out Christmas, wasn't in the game plan this year either as there just hasn't BEEN the toys at the used stores this year.

So, I tried to think of things to make for my husband this year and after months of brainstorming actually came up with some ideas.  This was one of them.

He knows he's getting this one as I asked him straight which gun he'd like a gun case made for.  He showed me the revolver he'd like to have a case made for and told me how he'd like it shaped (thus why it's contoured instead of just like a rectangle to fit multiple guns). 

I put the gun down on the wrong side of the faux leather and traced the gun with a lot of leeway for the material to bend around the gun and to take into account a flap and a lining that would need to be added.

I used faux sheepskin as the liner for the case.  The logic behind this was kind of simple in that every time I see a gun case that my husband has that comes with a shooting bag or something it's lined with faux sheepskin, so I figure there's got to be some logic to it *laugh*.

After cutting out the pattern about FIVE TIMES before I figured out that I would have to do one lining piece and one main piece reversed to accommodate for a back side to the case (duhhhhh!), I finally got the pieces lined up and sewed together right.

Now, I kept the top piece on the case until after the lining and main pieces were sewed together through along the body of the case.  I then figured out where the main body would end and the flap begin and I cut those pieces off.  This way I would have a front and back to my flap, but without the lining (which I removed those pieces after I cut the flap off.

I then sewed the flap with the right sides together, but left the bottom open.  Then I turned it right side out and sewed it to the main case.

I finished the case with a heavy duty snap that I hand sewed on so that it would last to wear and tear (versus velcro which I was worried would get too dirty over time).

All said and done, though, for my first real attempt at making a good gun case, I thought I did a decent job.  And now I have the beginnings of about four more gun cases if I ever want to make more in the future (har!).

Total Cost to Make Gift:  I've had the leather and the sheepskin for a long time, so I'm going for free on those as I don't remember how much they cost originally.  The snap was one of some snaps that I got for general repairs and things about a year or so ago, so I'm going to estimate about .75 for that.

Total Time to Make Gift:  About two hours between messing up the pattern repeatedly because my brain refused to function and then going and checking the fit on the gun repeatedly to make sure the case would fit it well.