Instant Gratification Sewing: Yoga Mat Bag

From cut to done in an afternoon. Just what the doctor yogi ordered!

The pattern is from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. I made the bag a bit larger than her version to accommodate my thicker-than-standard, knee-friendly mat.  The new bag isn't as rugged as the first one I made a few years ago with a home dec fabric, but I think it will get me from home to ohm in style.

Namaste, everyone! 

A Little Break From Fitting

How do you rate the success of a sewing project? If you are of the mindset that a project is most successful when it becomes a go-to item that lasts over time, then one of my most successful projects of all time is the bag I made for my yoga mat, 3 1/2 years ago. Not only was it one of my very early sewing projects, but I've been using this bag several times a week since then, and it's still in great shape.  

Summer is a more relaxed time for me at work, and I've been finding the time, once or twice a week, to make it to a yoga class at lunchtime. So, now I have two mats - one for the office and one for home/gym - but only one bag. And after the marathon that was my seersucker dress (hemming WILL be finished tonight!), I think I need a little break from fitting. In fact, it would be excellent to have a project that I could start and finish in one day, more or less.


So, before I tackle my border print Burda pants, I'm sewing a very easy yoga mat bag - the exact same pattern as last time - in this fabric, which is a remnant from an early project:

I swear I am going to avoid doing any alterations or enhancements that will add to the length or difficulty of this project, as seems to be my habit.

Run for Your Lives Little Turkeys!!!

Unofficial Turkey Trot Time: About 4 minutes faster than last year!

Not too shabby considering my travel schedule and the tail end of a cold.  I feel like I ran the best race I could have run today and I think that shaving about a minute off my per mile time is an accomplishment.

Now, on to the rest of the Turkey Day festivities!

Post-Vacation Regrouping and Motivation

Sometimes, a forced holiday from a hobby because of work, vacation, injury or fatigue from a time-consuming project can be a good thing. However, in the last month several of these circumstances have converged for me, and every one of my hobbies except travel has been on hold. It's been a month since I've done any kind of sewing (project fatigue and travel), 5 weeks since cooking or baking (travel and the Christening outfit), a month since my last run (injured big toe followed by a chest cold), and my yoga practice has been on hiatus since mid February (bursitis in my right shoulder). Even my blogging has been haphazard. Perhaps I was pushing myself too hard to do all of these things? Naaahh.

Whatever the case, vacation is over, my suitcase has finally made it home from an extended vacation without me in Spain, and I am back with a vengeance - energized and motivated. My shoulder has been good as new in the 2 yoga classes I've taken since Saturday and I am going to go for a run this evening. I'm not sure what to cook or bake first, but I will let you know.

On the sewing front, I got together with Erato on Sunday to help her pin fit her jeans, chat about sewing and pore through the latest Burda and my sewing patterns to decide what to work on next. Obviously, I have to get back to my pants muslin, which I left in good shape since Phineas did manage to pin fit the pants without goring me. But I want a few things to work on when I am not feeling like working on the pants. So here is what is up next (in no particular order):

On this one, I plan to make the top, but with short or no sleeves. If it goes well, you may see it as a dress in the fall.


This may be the top I tackle first. I love the neckline - it is an almost universally flattering cut. I plan to make the short sleeve version.

Finally, having a really great and versatile tee pattern will give me lots of options for fun tops year-round. I already have a number of ideas for variations which will elevate it above the basic tee.

Oh, and I should mention that both this top and the HP Calm, Cool and Cowl neck top are in the UFO pile while I figure out whether I want to finish them or not.

This weekend, I will be digging out the Craft Lounge, organizing myself and getting down to work. It's good to be back!

Meet Justin, my personal running trainer

I know what you're thinking. The resemblance to Lee Adama is striking.
But this is how I picture Justin.

Justin is my Ipod Personal Running Trainer. With the help of his 4 Weeks to 1 Mile training program, I ran my first mile last night. Considering that I haven't run this far since freshman year of high school, I'm really quite proud of this modest achievement.

I couldn't have done it without Phineas' help, either. He planned the route that we ran, which ended with a gentle downhill to help me to the finish line. And he trotted along with me at my ridiculously slow pace, toting a water bottle and encouraging me along the way.

Now, on to the 8 Weeks to 5K program...

Monday Brain Dump

What a weekend! Here is a short version of my goings on...

On Friday evening, I went to Michael's to buy transfer paper and tear away stabilizer for future embroidery projects. The Michael's near me never fails to disappoint. Not only couldn't I find what I wanted, despite their enormous aisle of floss and hoops, but the employee that I asked for help actually asked me, "What's embroidery?"

Then Phineas helped me pick out new running/gym shoes. Yes, it is that time of year when I feel compelled to move my workout to the great outdoors... Since I am a bit lighter (more aerodynamic, perhaps?) we'll see if I can finally make a dent in my goal of running for 30 minutes without feeling like I want to die.

Air Pegasus - maybe will give me wings?

Back at home, I finished embroidering my veggie and fruit onto the apron. No final decision on what to do about the iron mark yet.


Saturday started with a yoga class that culminated in a surprise. I did this pose:

A half handstand (feet on the wall).

It was a super-cool accomplishment; my first inversion. I haven't been able to get to yoga more than twice a week in the last many months and didn't think I would have progressed or had the upper body or core strength for the pose. But I did!

After yoga, I made a fun tee for my mom for Mother's Day with an iron-on transfer:

Her gift was green-themed.

Then I finished my Amazing fit pants, which will get it's own post.

After pre-mother's day dinner with my in-laws, I finished the day by baking my mom's favorite sour cream coffee cake. Sadly, I didn't take a picture, but here is the recipe. It is super rich and delicious - loaded with butter and sour cream.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (So easy, so good!)
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2c sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1c chopped pecans
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease/flour a springform pan. Mix first 5 ingredients together. Mix next 3 in a seperate bowl, then stir into wet ingredients until just combined. Set aside. Mix nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pour half of batter into pan and top with half the nut topping. Add the rest of the batter and finish off with the rest of the topping. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 10 min, remove springform and then finish cooling or serve warm.

On Sunday, I relaxed over brunch with my family and then chased my nephews around the playground - swinging, sliding and showing them how I could do a handstand. A great weekend and a great day!!

Hugger Mugger

I recently bought a new yoga mat. This would be my 4th yoga mat in about 1 year. Apparently I am the princess and the pea. But I have finally found the mat for me - an incredibly thick, very grippy Hugger Mugger mat that has quickly become my knees' best friend.

The one and only flaw with the mat is that, because of its 1/4 inch of glorious knee protecting thickness, it rolls up larger than the standard mat and so doesn't fit into a yoga mat bag. But because of my new status as a Domestic Godesss (heh heh heh), this was no problem.

I used a home decor weight fabric that MS gave me a few months ago to create this custom-sized yoga mat bag from a pattern by Lotta Jansdotter.


I tested the bag out on Friday and it was great! This is the first project that combines two of my obsessions - yoga and sewing.