Yoga Mat Carry Bag

If you're a fan of yoga, pilates, sewing, pretty fabric, or just projects that are quick and easy, then you're going to love this! I made up my own pattern as I went so hopefully it's easy to follow. This project took less than 2.5 hours, and that included picture taking, figuring it out as I went, and other distractions. The total cost of this project = a whopping $10!

Materials:
Fabric - less than 1 yard but I got 1 to be safe
Drawstring Cord
Drawstring Stop
(also make sure you have your yoga mat handy for measuring purposes)

My first step was to see what size fabric I needed. It's a rare day that I actually take out measuring tape to do this but it's probably a smart thing to do. This technique worked for me...

After you cut your fabric fold the top over a couple of inches and then fold it over again and pin it down and sew the fold down. ( I think I really need to brush up on my sewing vocabulary, please bare with me as this is how I do things)

Next you're going to take that entire piece and fold it in half right sides together (thats actual sewing lingo woo!!) Sew the two edges together but be sure to start your seam AFTER the folded down part because thats going to be where you feed through your drawstring later. Kapeesh?

Now that you've made a tube shape with your fabric, test out the size with your yoga mat. You don't want it to be too snug because that will make it tough to get the mat in and out of there. Also while your mat is in the tube, check out the length of your fabric. If you have a little extra, now would be a good time to trim it. You'll definitely want the fabric to extend about an inch or 2 beyond the mat because you're going to lose some fabric when you sew the bottom piece on.

There are 2 more pieces that need to be cut from the fabric. The long rectangle will be used to make the strap and the circle is for the bottom of the bag. You'll want your strap piece to be a little longer than the yoga mat and bag so when you put it around your body its not too tight. I ended up cutting my piece to be a little bit shorter than this.

Take your strap piece and fold it right sides together. Sew a seam down the edge and you're going to end up with a long inside out tube. Flip that sucker inside right!

This is where things get a little tricky. Take the first tube you made - the bigger one that will be the bag- and lay it out on the floor. Place the strap inside the bag and line up the seams so that they're touching. The bigger tube should be inside out and the smaller tube should have the fabric pattern showing. Pin the strap to the bag on the bottom end (NOT where the drawstring is going)

Take your circle piece of fabric and with both the wrong sides of fabric showing sew it to the bottom of the bag while at the same time sewing the piece of the strap into place. Then trim all the excess fabric and do a little zig zag seam around the edge to make sure it's secure.

Flip your bag so the right side is showing and it should look like this so far. You can see how the strap was sewn within the circle here...

Next feed your drawstring cord through that space you created at the beginning. It helps to tie a knot on one end of the cord so you have something to grab when you're feeding it through. After that just add your cord stop and tie a knot at the end.

Pull the other half of your strap underneath your drawstring (make sure the strap isn't twisted) and fold it into the inside of the bag. This is where you can check out the length of your strap and trim it accordingly.

Ok, I'm going to try my darndest to explain what's going on in this next picture. The loop where you fed your drawstring through at the top of the bag should still have unsewn edges. (that vocab would really help here) Your strap should be between these edges and the drawstring right now. Fold your strap AND bag in half at the seam so that the seam of the strap lines up with the open edges of open loop and the bag. Pin it there! Sew a seam right up the edge to match up the location of the seam on the bag. BE CAREFUL that you don't sew over your drawstring because then it won't work. Sew right up as close as you can to the drawstring then stop.

Now fold the rest of the strap over that seam you just made and sew it down. There should be a seam there that you can line it up with so it looks neat. (I can't imagine that I'm making any sense at this point.

AND YOU'RE DONE!

Who says yoga can't be fashionable??