My Yoga Mat Bag

So my 25th birthday was on Thursday, and as I mentioned a couple posts ago, my fiancée sent me a yoga mat (for you know, whenever I plan to get off my lazy bum and actually do yoga). I finished the bag the day after I got the mat, and I'm so excited at how perfectly it came out. I'm still really new to sewing, so being able to finish something like this is great. The tutorial I followed at boredandcrafty.com was so straightforward and well written that it made making it so easy. The only problem I had was trying to figure out how big to measure out my fabric, because my mat is a oversized, thicker mat, and I wanted a little more wiggle room for it. I ended up measuring my mat, adding 3 inches to the length and circumference (and thanks for a online diameter calculator), then proceeding with the tutorial. So, in the end, it came out really great, and the fabric, I think really makes the bag stand out.

I also made the strap a few inches longer, because I worried how tight it was going to be on me, I didn't want to feel choked by the strap being too tight. The additional 3 inches ended up to be the perfect size to go around my chest. Yes, I love this bag.

I added another step to finish the bag: I tacked down the lining to the outside part by a little bit of hand sewing, I didn't want my lining to pop out from the bottom whenever I pull out the mat. If I ever take classes, that would be quite embarrassing for me. So, a couple stitches, and done. Easy peasy.

Keeping Busy

The past couple weeks have been more like a roller coaster for me lately. A very close family member has been in and out of ICU, the hospital, and sent to a rehabilitation center. He was very, very sick, with a huge list of problems that they had tried to fix. Wednesday morning, he went back to the hospital, we were told there was nothing else they could do. He was put on what they call "comfort care", and had a drip of morphine. Wednesday night, or very early Thursday morning, we got a call from the hospital saying that he had passed. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of family visits, cremation planning, paperwork and cleaning house.

With that, it was really needed that I got my Amy Butler fabric in the mail shortly after. I had ordered it from a seller on Etsy a couple days before he had passed away, as a early birthday gift to myself. I am really gald that I ordered it now, because with the horrible turn of events, a couple sewing projects is what I really need at this time. I find that its always easier to really keep busy with projects while I'm stressed and dealing with something.

Anyway. The fabric is beautiful, I've been wanting it ever since I seen it, so I'm really excited that I finally got a couple pieces. What is even more awesome - is that a package came from my fiancé on Friday that contained my birthday gift. A shiny, new orange yoga mat. It's so perfect because now, I can use my new Amy Butler fabric to make a yoga bag for it. I had intended to make me a little handbag to carry around my iPod, cell phone and lip balm, but now I have 2 projects that I can do. And hey, I can now make my yoga mat bag, and have a matching purse to go with it.

Cosmetic Bag

A couple weeks before I left to see my fiancée Iowa, I made myself a little cosmetic bag, intending to use it for my toiletries. It turned out really adorable, and it was my first time both sewing on a zipper, and handstitching a lining in place. I've never done either, so it was fun. I followed this helpful tutorial on creating it, only I made mine slightly longer, to hold my many more needed supplies.

In the end, I never even took the bag with me on my trip. Even though I made it bigger than the tutorial, it still wouldn't fit all the stuff I needed it to. Now, it sits and is serving a cosmetic bag's real purpose: keeping all my makeup pieces in once place. I also found that I sewed the fabric too close to the zipper, so it catches sometimes. I'm not sure I used the zipper foot on my sewing machine right either, because it should not have been as difficult to sew up as it was for me. But still, turned out nice, I am impressed with how well I did on it.

Beachy Bag

My trip to see my fiance is coming closer now, and I've been trying to finish up some projects that I am determined to complete for my visit to Iowa. First being, my beach bag. Tyler is planning us a trip to the beach, so I have to have a bag to carry our towels and everything in, right? I've sewn a tiny bit waaay back in high school, but wanted to try making myself a bag. I couldn't find any I liked at a store, so I grabbed some summery looking dishtowels from Kohls, and started on this fantastic tutorial.

For my first little sewing project, I think it turned out extremely well. It's perfect and just the right size for an oversized Kohls beach towel, tanning lotion, bottled water, a book, cell phone and an iPod. It's even perfect for after the trip, whenever I have the urge to go down to the pool.

It's even got a super-cute pocket on the side. And, you can even see the towel in the bag in this photo. It's been hanging on my door handle for 2 weeks now with a towel in it and nothing has broken yet, so I must have done something right!

The sewing machine we had here at the house has been sitting for months (possibly even years), and was so terrible, just sewing a single seam took hours because we couldn't do the bobbin right. The needle kept breaking, the machine kept stopping... it was ridiculous. My mother had purchased it at a yard sale for really cheap, so we came to the conclusion that something was wrong with the machine. So, we researched and found a much better one (that was on sale at Joann at the time!), and ran out to purchase it so I can finish the project (and justified it by saying its for future quilting projects for my mother). I'm so glad we got that machine, it sews great, its easy, and so far, I haven't had a problem with the bobbin at all!