How To Sew A Yoga Mat Bag

I am far from a seamstress. I do own a sewing machine, yes. And I attempt projects on it. Unfortunately I have no patience for sewing and cannot sew a straight line to save my life. Seriously.
Well, I am doing my first (and probably last) sewing tutorial to show you how easy it is to do this simple project.
I did not take measurements. It is not my way. So follow along as best as you can + think about making your own yoga mat bag.

What you need:
Some fabric (maybe a yard, just to be safe)
Strap (or make your own strap)
Scissors
Pins
Sewing machine
Drawstring (or elastic, if you are lazy like me)

I've broken the steps down into 4 main steps with pictures.

Step 1:
Lay your fabric out and put your yoga mat (loosely rolled) on top of it. Wrap the fabric around giving yourself about 1-2 inches of extra fabric. Trim your fabric.
Turn your fabric inside out around your yoga mat (picture C) and pin. You will sew across pinned line and you have your tube, which is the main part of your bag. Don't sew yet! You are going to have to pin your strap in (step 2).
Make sure when you cut the fabric that you leave 1-2 inches of extra fabric all around. I am pulling the mat out of the tube to sew on picture C--I did not make my tube too short!



Step 2:
This is where you decide how long you want your strap to be. I pinned mine in picture B, then slung it over my shoulder and it felt about right. Oh, this strap is nylon corded strap from Hobby Lobby (99 cents a yard)--it's by the ribbon in the fabric section.
You will need to unpin the strap from the inside out bag the way I have it in picture B and put it through, so that it faces the bag right side out. (I hope that makes sense.) See picture C for how it should look. Ok, turn your bag inside out again and sew the pinned line, including the straps.



Step 3:
Stand your rolled yoga mat up on the fabric and cut the circle for the bottom of the bag. What I did (sorry, no pics of this) is laid a bowl down a little bigger than the mat (again, giving myself 1-2 inches of extra fabric to work with), so I had a perfect circle. Cut it out. Pin to the bottom of the tube and sew.



Step 4:
This might get a little tricky to explain if you have never done a drawstring or elastic, so stick with me. After I sewed the bottom of the bag, I turned the bag right side out and put the mat in there. Then I folded the top of the fabric inward to where I wanted the elastic to be (pic A) and pinned it. Then I turned it back inside out and laid my elastic down. You will sew a casing for your elastic/drawstring that needs to be large enought to fit the elastic drawstring. Then I pinned under the elastic and sewed it, leaving a small opening to pull my elastic through. Take your elastic and pin a safety pin on the end and carefully thread through (don't lose the elastic/drawstring in there). Once the elastic/drawstring is pulled through and both ends meet, sew the elastic (if you have a drawstring, I guess you just leave it long and hanging out) and close the part of the fabric you left open.



That's it! A super easy yoga mat bag to impress your friends.
Mine is a little wonky, but handmade is so special, people will overlook the quirks.