Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Yoga Mat Bag Tutorial

This bag will hold a Manduka Eko 5mm yoga mat.

You will need:
1 yard of your main fabric
1 yard of your lining fabric
a 25X34" rectangle of batting
scraps of batting
36-39" of cording for drawstring
1 grommet 11mm or 7/16"
thread for piecing and thread for quilting

Bag body:
Cut a 25X34" rectangle of both the main and the lining fabrics.
Layer, baste, and quilt as desired.  I divided my bag into sections of roughly 6" square.  I then chose various motifs from Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting project blog, some of Angela Walters' designs from her Dot to Dot Quilting class on Craftsy and a few others out of books I have or designs in my head.

Once your bag body is quilted, trim it to 22 1/2" X 32".  Set it aside.

Bottom:
Cut a 7" diameter circle from your main fabric, your lining fabric and your batting scraps.  Layer, baste and quilt as desired.



Strap:
Double-sided strap where each side is different:
Cut a 34" long strip by 3" of the main as well as of the lining fabric.  Cut (2) scant 2 1/4"X34" strips of batting.  Alternatively, you may just cut one batting strip.  I like the extra cushy-ness of the double layer of batting.

You always wanted to save those long edges of batting after quilting and trimming your quilts, right?  Now you know why!  Straps for bags!!

Sew the main fabric to the lining fabric RST along one long 34" side using a 1/4" seam.

Press so the wrong sides are now together.  Press 1/4" fold along both 34" sides of the strap.
Open out and lay the 2 batting strips on the lining fabric so their edges are well within the seams and folded edges of the strap.
Fold over the main fabric.  Pin.
I know everyone is crazy about the Clover mini-clips, but I prefer these oh-so-fine pins.  AND I can sew (slowly) over them!
 Edgestitch along both 34" edges.  I stitched right along the edge, and again 1/4" away.

I stitched right down the middle of the strap and then quilted wavy lines the length of the strap to hold all the layers together.  here you see the 3 components besides the main body of the bag:


Sew the bag together along the long edges, right sides together with a 1/4" seam.  I zigzagged the edges after stitching.  You could use a serger here.  Alternatively, you could bind this seam so your bag is reversible.

Feed the strap inside the bag, which is still wrong side out, and baste the strap to the bottom of the bag, using a 1/4" seam and centering the strap over the side seam you just sewed.  If you are making your bag reversible, apply a second strap to the opposite side of the bag from this strap, attaching it to the lining side.

Attach the bottom.
Fold the bottom circle in half, marking the edges with a pin.  Refold, lining up the 2 pins and mark the new edges with pins or press lightly in all four places.  This quarters your bottom so you will have it placed evenly inside the cylinder of the yoga mat bag.


Flatten the bag now, with the side seam at one side.  Put a pin in the opposing side to the side seam.  Open the bag and refold, matching that pin to the side seam and flatten again.  Drop a pin in each of the opposite sides here so you now have the bottom quartered as well.

Insert the circle that is the bag bottom inside the cylinder, matching up all 4 pins.  Stitch in a 1/4" seam, zigzagging as you did the side seam, or using a serger here if you prefer, or binding if you are doing a reversible bag. You would want to use bias binding around this circular seam.

Binding the top edge
Turn the bag right side out.  Baste the top edge of the strap to the top edge of the bag, using a 1/4" seam.  Cut a piece of either the lining or the main fabric that is 2 1/4" X 28".  Fold this strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press.  Bind the top edge of the bag as you would a quilt,

either machine or hand-stitching the binding to the inside of the bag.

Turn down the top edge of the bag 1 1/2" to make the casing and press.  Open it back out, and fold the bag in half having the strap at one side.  Mark the opposite side from the strap with a dot.  Apply your grommet here as per instructions on the package.

Fold back down the casing and stitch it down, stitching along the edge of the binding.  Be sure to match your bobbin thread to the main fabric so this stitching blends into the bag.

Thread your cord through the grommet hole and knot the ends.  I chose to feed it through before I stitched down the casing.  If you do this, be sure the cording is at the top folded edge of the casing so you won't stitch through it.


Pocket
Cut a 5X71/4" rectangle of your lining fabric.  Fold one long edge over 1/4" and then fold it down once more 3/4".  Press and stitch it down.  Fold the pocket in half, RST, and stitch down the 5" side and across the bottom.  Turn right side out and press.

I sewed my pocket by edge-stitching it just under the binding edge of the casing, centering it over the side seam.



This will be a perfect place for me to keep my phone and car keys during class.

And voilà!  A yoga mat totebag!


Note: For another, different yoga bag, I downloaded Amy Butler's free Nigella Yoga Bag pattern here.  I had thought to adapt that pattern using my quilted fabric as the material, but it wasn't big enough for my mat, didn't have an inside pocket, didn't close at the top, and wasn't reversible, as I'd originally intended.  On my bag, you could bind the side seam, and the bottom seam, as I did the top edge, as well as sew on a strap to the lining side, so it would be reversible.  My inside fabric is so pretty, but the quilting doesn't show, which is why I opted not to do a reversible bag after all.  Maybe one day!

1 comment:

  1. Oh my GOSH!!!!!!! If I had to choose between rocket science and making this bag it'd be a no-brainer. Mars.......here I come!!!!!!!!

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