Yoga Messenger Bag

Since I bought my Groupon for unlimited yoga for a month, it was time to dust off the old yoga mat. I've never had a yoga bag before, so I decided to make one. I found one I really liked on ETSY while I was shopping for birthday gift ideas for my brother. It's from Sundara Studios, which I mentioned the other day. Last night I set out to make one in a similar style before my inaugural class scheduled for today. The things I liked about her bags (everything actually); they are visually appealing, I like the messenger style, plus bonus points for the wide strap and the creative along-the-length opening to make getting a not-perfectly-rolled mat in easily. She also uses some really beautiful fabric combinations; she really manages to balance subtle and eye-popping.


Personally I'm low on really good fabrics, so I went for some REALLY bad ones. I have what looks like a pretty heathered gray, but in fact is a very cheap, thin fabric I picked up for $1 a long time ago. Then there is the lining, another cheap fabric...maybe $2 for 3 yards or something like that. Put them together...and they look great! The double layer makes the thin/cheap fabric more substantial, and the gray balances out the shockingly bright blue and green of the lining. I went with one single tie in the middle of the bag to hold it closed. (It's almost like a big burrito with a yoga mat filling...mmmm) It came together in about 40 minutes start-to-finish and I used my yoga mat (intentionally rolled a little loosely) at almost every step to make sure it would all fit right. There are no raw edges, which is great. Plus it's totally washable and dryable, which is even better.


Now I'm ready for class for a total of $0 (I don't really assign a cost to old fabric bought years ago that I really had no plans to use) It's great that I can find ideas to use as inspiration for myself at home. Ideally, in a perfect world (where I could afford stuff) I could buy whatever I wanted. (If that were true I might never get off of ETSY, I'd just buy stuff all day long) But, I don't live in that world...frugality is more than a motto in our house...it's a life style. So once again, my mom's sewing machine (that she loaned me 3 years ago...shhhh) saved the day.


To those of you who can afford the real deal, go check out the bags. The fabrics are great and the bags look fantastic. And I'm always up for supporting an Etsian. (plus there are additional features in the real ones...zippered internal pocket, snap closures, roomier size...it's the little details that make the big difference)