Need a handy, dandy bag to carry that odd-shaped yoga mat. Well, if you have an old pair of pants lying around, you’re all set. Here’s an easy way to use an old, ripped pair of pants to make a drawstring bag for your yoga mat courtesy of Instructables. Seriously … how cool is that?

Materials:

• 1 pair unwanted pants like PJs or light cotton
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Several straight pins
• 1 safety pin

Cut the tube and straighten it

Turn the leg inside-out and pin and sew the flared part(s) to make a straight tube. Cut off the excess fabric leaving a reasonable seam allowance (1/4 to 1/12 inch).

Create a strap

Cut a length of fabric from the as-of-yet unused leg of the pants to match the length of your tube, and fold it over in a manner that hides the fray-able edges. Sew.

Sew the bottom seam

With the tube still inside-out, fold the edges in on themselves, and sandwich one end of the strap into the bottom seam (with the long side inside the main tube). Pin and sew (you may want to sew several times).

Create the drawstring and casing

Test your bag to see how much space you have at the top to create the drawstring casing. With the bag still inside out, fold down a hem to match the size of your drawstring (a little bigger to allow movement). You may need to turn the hem twice to make it nice. Leave a space unsown so that you can thread your drawstring later. To create the drawstring, use the same principle as the strap.

Thread the drawstring and attach the strap

Thread the drawstring through the casing using a safety pin. Cut a hole along the casing on the on the outside of the bag. Stick the two ends of the drawstring through this hole.
Turn the bag right side out and attach the loose end of the strap to the loose ends of the drawstring with the sewing machine. Be careful, as this will probably be very thick and could pose difficult to run through your sewing machine.

Go do yoga!

Insert your rolled mat, and voila!

Written by Greenista Girl Brianne

Photos by Instructables

Tags: DIY, Dwell, reusable bag, yoga

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 at 5:32 am and is filed under Dwell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.