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Monday, June 4, 2012

Jeans Yoga Mat Bag

Sometime back I read an article about how germs are lurking everywhere in the gym. The article basically talked about the importance of wiping off instruments after use, carrying your own towel etc etc. That set me imagination on overdrive and since then I haven't been able to wipe the grimace off my face when I do yoga/pilates. Its not the pain of  stretching or anything like that mind you, its the thought of how many sweaty palms and bodies have lain on that yoga mat at my local gym!

Creepy right? Sorry for putting that image in your mind, but why should I be the lone sufferer of my overactive mind's eye! I believe in spreading the joy ;)!

Anyways, to get to the matter at hand, I went ahead an bought a yoga mat for myself (I guess I was hoping that some investment would force me to be more regular!). But its a little bulky and awkward to carry around. I know I know, you are thinking, why the heck doesn't she just buy a mat bag! But moi being moi, I just had to do things the round - about - way!

Why buy when I could make it at home? Thing is, I came across this DIY project that made a yoga mat bag from an old pair of jeans. I found it really interesting. Also, the satisfaction of making something on your own and using it is a high in itself - I cannot describe it!



A couple of years ago I bought a sewing machine on sale at Target (oh yes, my love of tools & gadgets at play again!). I don't know how to sew, but I thought how difficult can it be to learn? If nothing else, I could just use it to darn old clothes! That sewing machine came to good use for this project!

I also had an old pair of jeans that I did not fit into anymore; sigh - the story of my life :( . So, I used it to make this yoga mat bag.

I cut out one leg of the jeans to make the bag. From the other leg, I cut out a circle using a small cereal bowl. The project site says to use a small plate, but I used the bowl. I would recommend the plate though. After making  the bag I have realized that it is a bit tight for my mat!

Now, seal one end of the bag using the small circle cut from the other leg, using a sewing machine, or stitch it by hand. Next, hem the open side so that you can put a draw string through it to keep the mat in. I did this, but since the bag is a tight fit, I haven't bothered tying a string.

Also, I did not have any cloth belt or sash that I could use as the strip for carrying the bag. So, instead I rolled up the remaining part of the other leg of the jeans and made it into a strip and sewed it on to the back of the bag. Thus, my whole jeans got used up!

The bag looked pretty plain and sad though. So, I did some block printing using some spare fabric paint that I had left over from some other long forgotten project. Used an "ॐ" block, as it seemed fitting for a yoga mat bag! Then I jazzed it up with some small colored stones that I had. Tada! My yoga mat bag was ready!


Now, as to how often I get to use it - that remains to be seen...

4 comments:

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