While I was researching how to make a yoga strap, I found some posts on yoga mat slings. At least two of those posts mentioned that a yoga mat sling made with heavy cotton can be used as a yoga strap. I was intrigued. In this post I’m reviewing the Adjustable/Universal Fit Yoga Mat Carrier Sling Strap Tutorial by The Artisan Life.

The online tutorial for this project is available here:

Universal Yoga Mat Sling Tutorial

Note this pattern is for personal use only.

Here are my thoughts on this project.

The tutorial begins with photos and a description of the author’s motivation for creating the tutorial. Natasha (the tutorial’s author) also makes some recommendations about what fabrics to use. She suggests light-weight cottons for light mats, heavy-weight cottons for most mats, and cotton canvas or duck if you plan to use your sling as a yoga strap. I didn’t have enough of any of my cotton duck prints so I selected a mid-weight upholstery fabric from my stash. (The mat I’m planning to use the sling for is a light-weight 5 mm mat.)

Tools and materials are covered then we dive right in to making the sling.

Step 1:

The tutorial’s steps include pre-washing, drying and pressing the fabric. As I mentioned in my Pre-Wash Fabrics post, I prepare my fabrics by washing, drying and pressing shortly after purchasing them. My first step was cutting out the pieces. While not mentioned in the tutorial, I trimmed off the selvage edges before sewing my pieces together.

If you’re going to do so, now is the time to customize the length of your strip. I wasn’t sure whether I would keeping the yoga mat sling or gifting it, so I didn’t adjust the length.

Step 2:

Next we fold the short ends of the strip to hide the raw ends and press the strip into it’s 1.5″ final width. The longer your fabric strip is the more time this will take, but the more carefully you press, the better your final result will be.

Steps 3 & 4:

The second last step is stitching the long narrow rectangular. I sewed a 1/8″ from the edges of the strap.

Now that you have created a strap, we secure the ends to create a sling. Here are some photos of my completed yoga mat sling.

As with The Artisan Life’s Yoga Strap I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to sew a yoga mat sling. Natasha’s tutorials really make both projects go quickly. I definitely recommend cotton canvas or duck if you’re planning to use this yoga mat sling as a yoga strap…. Lighter fabrics are just too thin. I am considering making this again with canvas or duck and gifting it to a friend who practices yoga.

I’ll end this post with some pros and cons. This style of yoga mat carrier doesn’t require hardware and webbing (pro or con depending upon your preference for materials), and comes together more quickly than the Yoga Mat Strap Wrap (pro). The Sling Strap is not as adjustible as the Yoga Mat Strap Wrap (con). Both will fit any diameter of yoga mat. The strap wrap’s shoulder strap is independently adjustable while the sling strap is not. My 5 mm thick yoga mat hangs much lower on me than my 8 mm thick yoga mat. A Sling Strap made with cotton canvas or cotton duck can also be used as yoga strap (pro).

How do you carry your yoga mat? Do you use a strap wrap, sling carrier or mat bag? Have you considered sewing one of these projects? Comment below and/or Pin me for later!

Tanya

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