Hi everyone,

Happy Tuesday! We hope you all are having a lovely day so far. Today is National Parfait Day = Yum! Of course, we love our parfaits anytime and any day…but today just gives us all the more reason ;)

It’s time for this week’s How To’s Day!! Today we are featuring our fantastic and stylish Yoga Bag Tutorial on the blog. With all the upcoming holiday parties (and thus, all the delicious food!!), we’re going to need to prep by being gentle to our bodies. We love yoga as a form of exercise, as it is also great for stretching muscles and flexibility. As well, it is a wonderful stress reliever so it’ll also be great after the rush of Christmas shopping! (and we’ll definitely need it for that!!)

What better way to carry around your yoga mat than with our pretty bag? With a convenient, zippered pouch for your mat and adjustable strap, our Yoga Bag is the perfect companion for carrying to your classes. We adore our yoga bag with our What a Gem by Allison Cole collection; the bright blue is a fun pop to your bag…and you’ll always know which one is yours!

Want to make your very own Yoga Bag? Click MORE to see the full tutorial!! :)

YOGA BAG TUTORIAL
Featured With: What a Gem by Allison Cole for Camelot Fabrics

SUPPLIES:
– 2/3 yard of What a Gem quilting cotton (44” wide) from Camelot Fabrics in 8140604 #1 for the Shell
– 1/8 yard of What a Gem quilting cotton in 8140603 #3 for the Strap OR - Option B (shown here) – use a re-purposed purse strap instead of sewing one from cotton. The strap should be about 32”, or adjustable to that length.
– 1/4 yard of fusible cotton interfacing (44“ wide) from Camelot Fabrics in White
– (1) 22” closed-end zipper in a coordinating color
– (2) 1-1/2” wide rectangle rings; metal is preferred
– basic sewing supplies:
– sewing machine (with zipper foot) – needle & coordinating thread – iron & pressing surface – scissors & fabric shears – straight pins – fabric marker & pencil/pen
– measuring tape & straight-edge ruler

NOTES:
1. Please wash, dry & iron your cotton before beginning, and trim the selvages.
2. Unless otherwise indicated, use a 1/2” seam allowance throughout.
3. Backstitch at the beginning & end of each seam.
4. RST = Right Sides Together
5. WOF = Width of Fabric.

CUTTING:

Shell
Cut (2) 10” x WOF strips- sub-cut (2) 10” x 36” rectangles (Body) and (2) 10” x 4” rectangles (Loops)

Strap
Cut (1) 4” x 32” rectangle.

PREP
1. Place the Strap piece and both Loop piece on your ironing board, Right Sides down, and cover them with the fusible interfacing, glue side down. Press well to bond the layers, and peel them away from the ironing board. Trim off the excess interfacing.
2. Fold each Body piece in half lengthwise, and then width-wise, RST.

3. Making sure not to cut through any folded edges, measure & cut through all (4) layers as shown. The dashed lines indicate the folded edges in each diagram.

4. Edge-stitch around the perimeter of each Body piece with a zig-zag stitch, to protect the edges from fraying & wear.

LOOPS & STRAP
1. Fold the Strap piece in half lengthwise, RST and sew the (2) long edges together. Press this seam open, and baste (1) short end closed.

2. Turn the Strap Right Side out by pushing the closed end through the tube with a large knitting needle/piece of dowel. Remove the basting stitches, and press the Strap flat, with the seam centered on one side – this is the inside of the Strap.
3. Fold the short ends neatly into the Strap – about 1/4” deep – and press. Topstitch around the entire perimeter, 1/8” from the edge.

4. Repeat Steps 1-2 with each Loop piece, but do not tuck in their short ends.
5. Topstitch the Loops along their (2) long edges only, 1/8” from the edges.
6. Feed (1) rectangle ring onto each Loop. Fold each Loop in half so that the inside faces (with the seams on them) are together, and baste the short ends together with a 1/4” seam allowance.
Note: if you’re using an upcycled purse strap which already has rectangle rings at the ends, pass each Loop piece through one of the Strap’s rings before basting the Loop’s ends together.

INSTALLING THE ZIPPER
1. Place your zipper against (1) long edge of a Body piece, with the fabric’s Wrong side facing up and the zipper a couple of inches from (1) end of the Body’s edge. Mark the fabric to indicate the beginning & end of the zipper’s teeth.

2. Sew the (2) Body pieces together, RST, above & below the marks you made in Step 1. Leave the space for the zipper open.

3. Press the seam open, and press the unsewn edges of the gap open by the same amount.
4. Mount your zipper foot on the left-hand side of your sewing machine’s presser bar
5. With the Right Sides of your fabric & zipper facing up, pin the left-hand zipper tape to the left-hand side of the Body’s gap as shown. We show the gap slightly open here so you can see the zipper, but in your work the folded edge of the fabric should align with the center of the zipper’s teeth.

6. With the zipper partly open, sew the pinned edge of the Body to the zipper tape, about 1/4” to 3/8” from the folded edge. Essentially, the seam allowance needs to be large enough that you aren’t sewing over the zipper’s teeth, but small enough that it catches the 1/2” of fabric which you pressed open in Step 3.
7. When you approach the zipper toggle, turn the hand-wheel to lower your needle into the fabric, lift your machine’s foot and slide the toggle out of the way, closing the zipper. Lower the foot and resume sewing to the end of the zipper tape.
8. Mount your zipper foot on the right-hand side of the presser bar and sew the right-hand side of the zipper in the same manner as the left.
9. Sew back and forth 2-3 times across the top & bottom of the zipper, to secure the ends.

FINISHING
1. With the zipper open, sew the (2) Body pieces together, RST, along their remaining long edge and the (4) diagonal edges.

2. Insert a Loop at either end as shown, and sew it in place across the short end.
Note: if you’re using a reclaimed strap, it’ll be on the inside of the yoga bag, linking the Loops. Be careful not to twist it!

3. Turn the bag Right Side out through the open zipper.
4. Feed 2” at each end of the Strap through a rectangle ring, fold it over on itself with the seams together, and topstitch in place.

We hope you have enjoyed this week’s How To’s Day!! We’d love to know what your favorite form of exercise is…we’re always looking for new and fun activities! Also, if you decide to make your own Yoga Bag, we’d love to see! You can send your project ideas to info@camelotfabrics.com. Have a good one!!

Happy Sewing!