Making a Yoga Bag

 Hello Readers. Someone asked me to make them a bag for their yoga mat, to make it easy to carry it to exercise class. They asked for a few pockets for water and their phone. I was inspired and I got to work. 

This project was guided by what I saw on Sewspire. You can find them on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. The videos on YouTube are very informative.

I found this fabric in my sewing stash. It seemed sturdy enough for a bag. It was cute too. These 2 pieces would be the outer and inner layers of the bag. 

I would need straps, this ribbon seemed like a good choice and it was in my sewing stash already.

I used the rest of the fabric to cut some smaller rectangles for the pockets. I used my serger around the edges so they would not fray. I thought it would make the pockets strong over time. I didn't want messy fraying inside the bag, inside the pockets. 

This was how I planned to put the pieces together. The piece on the left is the inner layer. It will have one large pocket sewn to it. The piece on the right will have 2 small pockets and the straps sewn to it. When I sew the 2 layers together, it will hide all the stitching. 

 

I folded over the tops of the pockets so they would look nice and neat. I sewed the folded top twice to make it strong. This is when I started to have trouble with this project. I knew, but forgot, that my sewing machine does not do well with loosely woven fabric. You can see here that the weave is very open. If you do this project use a tighter woven fabric. It will be so much easier.

 

I ironed it to make it look crisp and clean.

 

I sewed the straps on the outer layer of the bag. I sewed the ribbon handles and the pockets to the bag at the same time. 

Then I sewed the 2 layers of the bag together. I didn't get a picture because I was too busy yelling at my sewing machine for skipping stitches and being difficult. I got it together and I was glad it was done. 

 

The bag is open on the sides, the mat gets placed n the middle and it rests there. 

 

When the straps are on your shoulder, the bag wraps around the mat and holds it in. The pockets hold water and other essentials securely. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.