Yoga Mat Bag Review

Want to sew a bag with a circular ends? This yoga mat bag is an easy project to start with. This is a Madam Sew yoga mat bag review.

The link to the MadamSew free tutorial with video is:

DIY Yoga Mat Blog Tutorial

This project is for personal use only.

For the purposes of my review, I’m going to summarize the basic steps, tell you what I did differently (if anything) and share my general thoughts about sewing the project.

Introduction

In my previous post I showed you some beginner projects that use circular pieces of fabric to create rectangular bags. This post reviews a bag that uses circular pieces of fabric to sew bags with circular ends (duffle bags are another example). Yoga mat bags are alternatives to yoga mat straps for storing and carrying yoga mats. A common style of yoga mat bag has a circular bottom with a drawstring closure at the top. This MadamSew yoga mat bag has a zipper along the side and circular ends. The large opening makes it easier to get a yoga mat into and out off this bag.

Step 0 Gather Materials

Outer fabric, lining fabric, and a zipper are needed. Seams may be finished with a serger or with bias tape. The tutorial doesn’t specify what types of fabric to use. I used a medium-weight home decor fabric for the outer fabric and strap and, medium weight cotton for the interior. I don’t have a serger so I gathered some store bought bias tape. Canvas and quilting weight cotton are other good choices.

Zippers and multicoloured fabrics — Materials

Step 1 Strap

I followed the instructions for sewing the strap. It’s a method that’s often used for bag straps so I top-stitched with a 1/8” (3mm) seam allowance. Turning the short ends under isn’t necessary since the raw ends will be finished in a seam later.

Sewing along the outer edge of a strap — Top stitch the strap

Step 2 Sew Zipper

I re-used an old jacket zipper for this project. The zipper had some damaged coils at the bottom so I cut this section of zipper coil off. To make up the length, I sewed two small scrap pieces of exterior fabric over the end of my zipper tape with right-sides-together. Next I pressed the seam open and top-stitched the scraps in place. The video tutorial describes using one folded piece of scrap fabric. Both method will work.

Close up of fabric rectangle sewn to the bottom end of zipper tape — Finish cut end of zipper tape

I love using my narrow zipper foot whenever I sew a zipper. I used 3/8” (0.9 mm) seams for the attaching the zipper and 1/8” (3mm) for top-stitching.

Step 3 Create Tube

I followed the instructions for this step and used a ¼” (0.6 mm) seam allowance. Push the exterior tube inside the interior tube to create one tube. I also basted the ends of my strap in place with a ¼” (0.6 mm) seam allowance.

Step 4 Attach Circles

I basted each pair of inner and outer circles together before I clipped them to the ends of my tube. Next I sewed my circles with a ½” (12 mm ) seam allowance.

Sewing layers of fabric along a curved edge — Sew circles to tube

Step 5 Finish Seams

I used 1” wide single fold bias tape to finish my seams.

Sewing bias tape along a curve — Finish edges with bias tape

Here are some photos of my finished yoga mat bag.

Yoga mat inside yoga mat bag — Open yoga mat bag with mat inside

Conclusion

This yoga mat bag is a quick and easy beginner project with a small number of seams. Preparing the materials is simplified as neither interfacing or fusible fleece are required. The video and well written description made it easy to follow along. Seam allowances aren’t specified so watch the video tutorial to see how the presser feet and fabric edges are lined up. Beginner sewers will appreciate sewing the zipper along a straight seam and the explicit description for how to do so.

This zippered yoga mat bag is meant for a standard ¼” (~5mm) thick yoga mat. My yoga mat is 1/8” (3 mm) thick and my pilates mat is 1/3” (8 mm) thick. This yoga mat bag easily accommodates them. I tried my bag on with my pilates mat inside and I can wear the bag as either a shoulder bag or a cross body bag. Larger individuals may wish to use a longer, fixed-length strap or a longer, adjustable length strap.

Have you tried this project? Did you like this yoga mat bag review? Comment below and/or Pin me for later! Subscribe so you don’t miss a post!

Tanya

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