Yoga Mat Strap Tutorial

I have to bring my own mat to body boot camp.  I don't have a strap for it because I've always used it at my house and never cared if it unrolled.  Now I need a strap and instead of buying one ($5 to $20!), I decided to make my own.  Now I'm a trendy lady at the gym :)

Here's How:

Materials:
1 strip 5" x WOF
2 strips 5" x 28"

• (This is for wrapping around your mat and making a velcro closure.  I suggest measuring your mat before you cut this to ensure enough length.  See note below)

Coordinating Thread
Velcro strip

Measure your mat for the smaller strips

 *Note:  I have a large, fluffy mat for weight lifting and more back support, not a thin yoga mat.  My strip will be longer than yours if you have a thin mat.  Be sure to measure around your mat and account for finished seams and velcro overlap.  I also wanted a more adjustable closure since I don't always roll it tightly.

My three pieces.  I'm only using one fabric choice.

Working with the long strip:

This strip will be inserted into the sandwich made by the two smaller strips.  If you want to make a finished seam, feel free (ie, wrong sides together and then turning it right side out).  I'm not going to in this tutorial.

1.  Fold the edges in a half inch and press.  I'm not super great at this, so bare with me.

I started with the long sides and then folded the ends.  The ends on this strip don't have to be perfect because it will be inserted into the middle of the two smaller strips.

Ignore the bow.  Try for a straight line if you can manage.

 2.  Once you have your edges pressed, fold the strip in half, hot-dog style.

3.  To give the strap more stability, I added in some interface.  If you don't need or want this stiffness you can skip over this part.  A lot of people use fusible interfacing.  I didn't.  I cut a strip of interface ~ 1 7/8" (because my folded strip is 2" and I didn't want it to interfere with the fold lines) and slipped it inside of the creases.  This held it well.  If you have fusible, cut the same size strip and fuse the interfacing to the fabric where I did.  Follow the manufacturers instructions.

This is optional

4.  Pin your strip together.  Mine was pretty stiff so I only needed a few pins to hold it, but more certainly never hurts.  Sew along all edges of your strip.  If you want to ad design, give it another seam for fun.  I'm in it for speed, so I'm not going to.

Turning the corner

When you turn the corner, stop the desired distance from the edge.  For example, I was using ~ 1/8" seam so I stopped sewing ~1/8" from the edge.  Life the presser foot with the needle down, pivot your fabric strip, drop the presser foot and keep moving.  It is important to note that the closer to the edge you are the smaller the gap will be on the non-crease side of your strip.  So, a 1/4" seam will give you more... floppy fabric... if that makes any sense.

Working with the smaller strip:

5.  Follow steps 1 through 3.  You should now have one long strap that is finished and two small strips that are pressed.

Assembly:

6.  Now you are going to start putting your strips together.  If your fabric is directional, you may want to lay it out on top of your mat to ensure you will sew the fabric the way you like.  Locate the center of one small strip (length-wise) and the center of your long strip (width wise).  Make sure that your opening (non-crease side) of your small strip is point up towards your long strip.

Pins are in the center of my strip

7.  Insert the end of the long strip into the small strip, aligning the center.  Pin.

Go ahead and pin the rest of the strip together.

*Note:  These ends are the ends to be concerned about matching perfectly, since you will see these, though they will be on the underside of your mat.

 I had a little bit that hung over the edge, so I took my small scissors and snipped off a piece.  This way when I sew it together, the finished result will look nicer.  

8.  Sew the entire way around the small strip, as you did with your long strip.  Ensure that your long strip is tucked into your small strip and sew across.

 You will have some extra.  Just roll it up and continue on your way.

9.  When you come to the end of the long strip, back stitch to the beginning to strengthen the seam.  Stitch forward over, and finish sewing around the strip.

You should now have a strap that looks like this:

10.  Repeat steps 6 through 9 on the opposite end of your long strip.  You should have a result like this:

Center, Pin, and Sew!

Adding the velcro:

At this point I wrapped my strap back around my mat to make sure everything was going smoothly.  I flipped it over to gauge the overlap.

My mat had unrolled slightly from what I started with, but because I chose to have an approximate 4" overlap, this is totally fine.  Desired actually.

11.  Now you need to think about how you want your velcro attached.  I wanted mine to have a large range of fastening options because I don't roll with the same consistency each time.  To do this I placed two "fuzzy" pieces, length-wise and one "rough" piece width-wise.  Pin velcro (bobby pins work well), one on the top side and the other on the bottom of the opposite side.

I chose to sew these on one at a time to reduce bulk.  I started like this:

12.  Sew around the edges of your velcro.  I back stitched for security.  I would suggest not not using sticky velcro since you will probably end up ripping it off if you use your mat enough.

I changed my thread color so that it was more invisible.

This is what it should look like after you have sewed on your three pieces (if you are mimicking my closure method).  

*Note:  I am not concerned about how this thread pattern will show through my straps, though I did use a much more muted color so you couldn't see the stitch unless you really looked.  If you are concerned about this, attach the velcro pieces to one side of the pressed hot-dog before assembling the straps together (before step 6).  This will hide the seam lines. It may also involve more thinking on your part, so watch out.

13.  Attach velcro to opposite side.  I wrapped mine again, just in case!  Make sure your shoulder strap doesn't turn on itself or you won't be a happy camper.

This is what you will have when it is finished.

Wrap around your mat and enjoy!

Hey! I made something!

So I was pretty happy with myself for sitting down and sewing this weekend.  I didn't have a ton of time, but I did manage to make this:

It's a case for my cell phone so my purse won't kill it.  I'm pretty happy with it other than the fact that I made it too big width wise.  The tutorial I followed used an iPhone and I have an android so I attempted to make it bigger to accommodate my larger screen.  The problem was it didn't really give good finished dimensions to work backwards from, so I googled how big an iPhone was and then guessed from there.  It gets the job done, and that's all that really matters.  Plus I love my turtle and hedge hog (left overs from the little apples charm pack).

I also made a napkin.  Yes, you read that correctly.  A napkin.  They apparently take a lot longer and are a little more finicky than I thought so I got impatient and left the room.  One person next Christmas will have a nice napkin though :)

This week I started a body boot camp class.  It was obnoxious.  I've been running 3 miles at an incline every day and have been incorporating some weight exercises after, as well as an ab routine.  I thought I was doing pretty well and this class could help me overcome my plateau that I've hit.  Well let me tell you, running 3 miles is apparently a cake walk compared to this.  My instructor is the equivalent of a psychotic Jillian Michaels on steroids.  I was dripping (ew) sweat within the first 5 minutes of class.  I couldn't even believe it.  At one point the entire class was bent over, panting, just watching the instructor do the move we were supposed to be mimicking   I would be lying if I said I wasn't humored.  It made me feel better that we were all in it together.

That was Tuesday.  I have another class tonight.  And I feel like I've been run over by a semi-truck.  My abs, back, and shoulders are killing me.  I am shaking in my boots for what is to come and praying that I don't look like a miserable idiot this evening.  The good news is though, if the intensity keeps up I will probably end up crawling over this plateau on my hands and knees.  Assuming I will be able to exercise this weekend.  Here's to health!

Mystery Block!

Does anyone know what the name to this block is?  I'd like to make it but I have no idea what it's called...

Really, I will do something this weekend.

Or at least I'm going to think about it really, really hard.

I just can't seem to sit myself down in front of the machine lately.  I don't think I've touched anything since I've finished my MSU wall hanging.  Mostly it was to let my thumb heal from all of the little pricks until I got a thimble for Christmas, but getting back to it has been tough!

Husband started his busy season so I've been doing a lot of running.  I think I've already hit 15 miles since last Thursday and I took yesterday off.  I'm back to it tonight though.  I have another 8 lbs that I want off that is going to be super tough to shake so I want to stay motivated while the hubby is away to get a jump on it.  I also signed up for a body boot class that starts next Tuesday.  I'm hoping it doesn't kill me.

I did buy some fabric for napkins this weekend.  I'm going to host my family's Christmas next year so I was going to pick some up on clearance, but they were still expensive!  I thought I could make my own, and more of them, for that price!  So I just got some nice fabric and hopefully they will be in my linen closet by Monday.

I'm also determined to get a start on my cousin's baby blanket this weekend.  I pulled out the graph paper and the panel last night, so that's a start at least.  I feel like I need a cheer team for this one since I have to design around the panel.  I've been more occupied searching for baby shower invites.  Bad, bad, bad!

Apparently I just need a good kick in the pants so pick something up.  I will do it though.  One day :)

Remember the bad?

Well here it is.

Looks like we will be remodeling our basement!  Not exactly how I anticipated it happening, but at least we caught it before it got worse.  This Friday someone will be out to take a peak and let us know how much it will cost to repair it.  My uncle (who is amazingly awesome) said that he could help us rehang the drywall to save some cash.  Without me asking.  What a nice guy :)

So, it's 2013!  Happy New Year everyone!  I couldn't wait to put 2012 behind me and get on with 2013.  So many bad things happened this year for so long that '13 will almost certainly be better!

Any-who, I've done exactly zero sewing since the last time I posted.  I took some time off to spend with the hubby before his busy season started (today), so now I won't see him until February.  I'm sleeping when he gets home and he's magically in bed when I leave in the mornings.  The good news?  I get to eat cereal and not have to make dinner for an entire month!  It will definitely give me some good treadmill time in the evenings.  And in my defense, I did clean my machine at least, thanks to craftsy.  And I watched some serious how-to videos.  I mean, that's almost like making something.

I hope you all had a lovely new year!  Any resolutions?

It's Christmas time!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

2012 Tree

Richard and I had our Christmas last night.  Today we are going to head to my parents and have Christmas with them.  Richard got me a new camera (since I've lost mine and have been using my phone since May.  Oops) and thought that I should have it to take pictures of my Dad when he opens his quilt.

I had my mom over last weekend (?) and made lots of Christmas cookies!  Since both of my Grandmas have passed away this year, we were going to miss our annual cookie plate.  I think I'm going to keep this rolling with my mom every year.  It was a lot of fun :)

Here is how I destroyed my Dad's quilt.  The blue really doesn't look so bad in the picture, but it was horrible.  Probably since I spent so much time and money on that stupid thing.  Pam suggested that I get some fabric markers and paint over the blue.  I did and the end result is OK.  The right (center) corner is one that I painted over in the right picture.  It is white, but it is also pretty stiff.  I painted 4 out of 6 and left the other two because they were pretty light.  I'm hoping he doesn't notice!

To keep the Sparty theme rolling I also made a wall hanging as a secret Santa present for one of Richard's cousins.  I hope she likes it.  She studied zoology and now works with the penguins at the Detroit Zoo.  Richard said it was going to be the best gift out of them (and I really hope so).  Basically, they all think I'm a country bumpkin, so I hope this isn't too.... crafty(?) for them.  At my wedding shower I had to explain to them what "canning" was and then they all looked at me like I was outside of my mind.  

I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

The Good, The Bad, and The Terrible.

I tell you what, I am super pooped after this weekend.  It was, basically, ridiculous.

The good? I finished my MSU quilt.  See?

I loved it, was so happy with it.  (Thanks USGS hand models.)

The bad?  My house hates me.  More to come.

The terrible?  My MSU quilt hates me.  I put it in the washing machine on Saturday morning, no big deal.  Threw in some color catchers for safe measure.  I pull it out and drape it over some chairs to dry.  Then I see it.  6 white strips are blue.  OMG.  There's someone from best buy in my house talking to Richard so I back slowly away and start cleaning before I have a mental break down, since Christmas is only two weeks away.  

It's the fat-quarter snowflake fabric I bought from a quilt shop.  I would have never guessed that fabric would be a traitor!  As soon as I find the rest of it, to the garbage can it will go.  I spent the day alternating between trying to avoid it to preserve my sanity and fixing it so I didn't feel like my heart was ripped out.  I found synthrapol at a quilt shop about 45 minutes from me.  The closest one, and they are closing!  Horrible.  Since I've started quilting I have seen 3 shops go out in my general radius and I feel terrible every time.  

I took it to a laundromat and used the synthrapol but I couldn't figure out how to work the giant washer so that it would give hot water, because of course they are not fancy and you can't pick your settings.  Great.  It still came out with 6 blue strips.  I brought it home, nearly defeated.  Richard rallied me and we tried scalding hot water in the bathtub.  That was terrifying because green water was everywhere.  I abandoned ship after about 5 minutes and threw it back in the washer to rinse with about a box of color catchers.  We pulled it out and as a last ditch effort we grabbed a tide-to-go pen.  It lightened it, but not enough.  It took a whole pen per strip and it's still blue.  Now, I'm defeated.  Pam said I could rip them out and reverse applique new strips in.  I can barely think about it, but I know I need to make a decision swiftly.  

On Sunday, Richard dragged me out to find a Christmas tree.  I used to love finding Christmas trees.  Get all pumped up with adrenaline, name them even. Now I dread it.  It's cold and they are never good enough for Richard.  And it's seems to always be raining.  I think this Christmas was a giant fail for me from the beginning, so I'm going to blame past events.  Like buying all our gifts for a sponsor child and finding out that the information was wrong and everything was actually asked for by another child that is sponsored by someone else.  My sister's gifts?  She didn't ask for anything because she already bought herself stuff.  So I cut her a check.  Richard?  He bought himself golf clubs.  My mom cut us a check.  Richard's parents?  They bought us a ping-pong table.  GREAT!  We are never, ever going to use it.  Ever.  And to fit it into our basement we have to move my treadmill to an area of the basement I loathe.  Double fail.  The worst part is that Richard wants this monstrosity and I can't tell him how mad I am because he doesn't know about it!  Hopefully this holiday season swiftly turns in a better direction.  

Has anyone had this problem?  Not necessarily a fabric bleed, but more like a fabric absorption   Any words of wisdom before I go mad?

Tula Pink Swap!

Last night I helped Pam and Pauline bundle up fabric from the Tula Pink Swap Pam hosted and I participated in.  I'm not going to lie, I was skeptical about the fabric because some of this designer's stuff is just out there.  That said, I'm in love with quite a number of the pieces I got!  I went through my stack this morning and had to share my favorites!  

We were so busy putting the stacks together that I barely took notice of what fabrics came in.  As I was thumbing through the stack my coworker pointed out the red print, and said "look, another turtle."  What?  Oh my gosh, sea horses too!  The green turtle is my favorite so I was pretty thrilled to have more little turtles grace the pile.  The lion eating the woman was pretty great too.  I have no idea what I'll do with her, but she is fantastic.  Maybe center her and just make a wall hanging?  Who knows.  

I got my MSU quilt back last night too (YAY!) and I've conned my coworkers to help me take a picture of it today!  Hopefully the sun makes an appearance for the photo shoot!

I've also got quite an adventure ahead of me this weekend in our basement, but I will tell you of our escapade, and the reason for it, later.  Hopefully we can make something amusing out of it.

Have a lovely day!

A new project! With a deadline..

Oh my gosh you guys.  I'm going to make a baby quilt.  My cousin is pregnant!  I can't even wait!  I love the baby already and I want it here now but he/she won't be here until July!  That's just too long!

Mama Spark made a couple of Noah's Ark quilts a while back as a gift and I love them.  Her quilts, combined with a previous interest and my desire to make my cousin a baby quilt (eventually) made me start quilting!  And I'm soooo happy that I did because now's the time!  Mama Spark generously donated me the remainder of her fabric from the project because it is no longer in production.  It is the All Creatures Great and Small by Moda and I knew I needed it for Amy.  I even got enough to make myself one :)  

(Thanks again, my friend- you've helped make me so happy to be able to do this!)

Anyways, I know it's not much, but I was so happy that I needed to share!  

I'm getting my MSU quilt back from the quilter and then I only have one more side to bind on it!  I also started a mini MSU wall hanging (which I think I told you) and I'm done sewing the blocks and I'm hoping to trim them all up tomorrow evening and sew it together this weekend!  YAY!

Off to field work!

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Crafty Item: Sewing machine cover!

One of my Crafty projects this month {and to be honest, last month} was to make a sewing machine cover.  I followed the pattern used in the Holiday Lane Blog Hop, but I altered it because I didn't actually want to have a winter cover.  I hate the cold.  And also because who knows the next time I will actually make one of these.  My cover is very simple.  See?

ignore the mess!

I had to measure my machine and alter the pattern so the scale would look right, and because I'm a country girl and dislike close houses, I decreased the amount there were and added some super cute trees in their place.  I love them.  They are my favorite part!  I embroidered a {giant} bird, and she's also pretty cute though she doesn't stand out very well.  I might add more decorative stuffs later. 

To make it, I worked on the front panel, then added enough fabric to cover the top and back.  I lined it with batting and some white fabric scraps that my Grandma had and I inherited and quilted it very simply.  Vertical lines on the front and diagonals on the back.  Then I added the sides.  It was kind of an experience since this was my first 3D piece I've ever done, but it came together.  Then I machine bound it, which I like because it looks much more like grass.  Mama Spark made one which more closely follows the pattern.  Hers has open sides that tie with ribbon.  There is a fancy tutorial and everything!  If you'd like to know how I made mine, let me know!

I want to make another one out of strips of batik fabrics and add a pocket so I can store some notions.  Someday :)  I hope this gave you some inspiration for your own sewing machine covers!

I also started an MSU wall hanging last weekend as a secret santa gift for a cousin.  It is basically a mini version of my MSU quilt-in-progress for my dad.  By the way, it is nearly done!  I can't wait to show you!  Hopefully I'll wrap that up this upcoming weekend!

Things of string

Hey guys!  It's been a while!  I've been super busy, just like many of you!  It is the holidays after all.  I have been working on a few projects, one of them is made of string!

I needed to learn how to knit to made some adorable baby booties for my cousin who is trying for a baby so I used a day when I was sick to lay in bed and watch youtube.  I made a cabled tea cozy!  I didn't finish it in that day, though, because I had to rip it out 5 times to get it right and then I still messed up and decided to keep going {Oh right, just like how I sew}. 

 

It doesn't look too bad though, if I do say so myself :)  I just need to add buttons and snuggle it against my favorite mug.

 

Other things that have kept me occupied:  our house, vacation, and field work. 

 

We are refinancing our house into a lower interest rate so DH and I were frantically running around our house before and after vacation of these last two weeks trying to get things done for the appraisal.  We finally boxed in our office.  It looks amazing!  We also had to repaint a ceiling and put in lots of new light fixtures.  I finished putting up curtains in every room {which I'm still blown away from}, and then I had to patch drywall and paint.  Plus the cleaning.  Oh my gracious, the cleaning.

 

Before we left for vacation to Florida, Richard decided that he needed to complicate matters for us.  He was changing a light bulb that hangs over our staircase.  Sounds simple, but to reach it you have to use a ladder that converts to scaffolding, cover the scaffolding with wood, and then top that with another ladder to reach it.  Richard got that far by himself since I'm so terrified of heights that just standing on our landing is a victory for me.  Well, he needed help folding the ladder back into its "standard" position so when I helped and walked away I said, "Now don't forget to lock that ladder before you put up that ceiling fan."  20 minutes later I heard a decent thud.  Normally thuds in our house are followed up by a "Are you OK?" .. "Yes I just dropped the {hammer, drill, level, tote, chair, etc}".  Not this time.  I got a lot of grunting responses.  I thought he had broke his foot but after bounding upstairs I saw the ladder had gone through the wall and Richard was on the floor holding his hand which seemed to be bleeding quite well.  I knew my first aid from work would come in handy!  Downstairs to our bathroom we went where I wrapped him and told him we needed to go get stitches.  Since we still had so much to do, obviously he refused until our nurse neighbor said to go get them.  Thanks Kelly.  Off to the urgent care we went where I nearly passed out and the doctor made me lay on the bed with Richard until I got some color back.  We decided that I might not be able to handle children.

 

But doesn't it look wonderful??

 

{curtains!}

New lighting!

 Then we went to Florida.  It was a short trip, but we had fun doing basically nothing.  We did go to the Miami Seaquarium though, and it was pretty fantastic.  I thought there would be more fish, but it was mostly marine mammals.  Whatever, I'll take it :)

I hope you all have a very happy thanksgiving! Doing any black friday shopping??  I hear JAF has some pretty good bargins...