Yoga mat bags are a necessity if you are someone who walks or commutes to yoga class. The mats can be slightly awkward to carry on their own and never fit properly in regular shoulder bags. Having a yoga mat bag can not only keep your mat protected, but when you’re walking, biking, or riding the subway to class you can just sling your mat over your shoulder. Finding a cute yoga mat bag is not always easy – but, making your own is!
What you need for this project: your yoga mat (for size reference), fabric of your choosing, a needle, thread, scissors, some sort of cord or shoelace, and something to use as the strap (I used an old belt).
Start by laying out your fabric, and place the yoga mat on top. Fold the fabric over the mat to measure how much you’ll need – leave yourself a couple of extra inches on each side just to be safe when you cut the fabric. You’ll want an extra 3 or 4 inches at the top of the mat so keep that in mind.
Use safety pins to pin the fabric where you want to sew. Remove the mat and start sewing with the fabric inside out. Sew only the bottom of the bag and the one long vertical side – this would be faster with a sewing machine but I did it by hand and it didn’t take very long at all. Once you’re finished sewing you can trim off some of the excess fabric and turn the bag right-side out – but leave the extra fabric at the top!
Now, take the extra fabric at the top of the bag and fold it over towards the inside of the bag – use safety pins to keep it in place.
Sew the folded over piece of fabric a thread through your piece of cord or shoelace – this will be your drawstring for the top of the bag.
Almost done! The last piece is to attach the bag strap. I happened to have an old fabric belt that was perfect for this.
To attach the strap, I put two small slits in the bag and slid the belt through. I folded over a piece of the belt and sewed it together.
And that’s it! You’re ready to head to your yoga class in style :)
Shown here with the Tie Dye Sports Bra and Foldover Frill Legging. Shop all FP Movement!
Check out more diy projects, and read more yoga posts in our beauty category!
Photos by Julia.
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very cute bag! It is hard to find cute yoga mat bags…they often look to mainstream and I’d much rather have one that was unique to me! :) great diy!
http://forsurejadore.blogspot.com/2012/07/fp-movement.html
I want to by that pretty bag. How much is it please!
I just started yoga and have been wanting a yoga bag! I’m surprised that I haven’t thought about making one myself! Thanks so much for the idea!!!
woooow great!!!!
DIY and more:
http://diyearte.blogspot.com
very nice &smart to ease to handle
Yaaay! I’m totally doing this tonight :) thank you!
Where did you get that fabric? Love & Light, marine
Where did you get that fabric? Love & Light x
That is a very interesting project, and one that I can spend quality time with my daughters working on. Thanks!
such a great bag! can’t wait to make one for my mat too! melon-heart.blogspot.com
Awesome! I’ve been looking to make my own yoga bag and this seems simple enough :)
wow amazing!
Just made one and it came out great! I used an old leather belt as the strap. Super cute!
I am wondering whether it’s stable to just cut two slits in the bag for the strap.
Won’t the fabric split after a while? I want to make one for my sister and she will use the tote bag on her bike, just wondering if it can take that much strain.
Great job. I’ve been looking for something like this. Can you show us how to make one with double straps and a pocket?
Carolin,,try putting the strap in the long side seam. Just position and pin each end of the strap in the long seam and then sew up the seam including the strap ends. Double stitch along the strap ends for a little more strength if you want. Hope this makes sense. I’m going to make one like that.
I used the leg of an old pair of sweatpants. Much less sewing!!!
Also, if using a pants leg, you can use the hem at the bottom for the drawstring!
How much fabric did you buy for this project?
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Taking the time
and actual effort to generate a top notch article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a lot and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.