How to make an apron out of a tea-towel

How to make a yoga bag

I've been practising daily Ashtanga yoga now for 4 months, and I am truly addicted. Until now I have been using the studio mats for my practice, just trying to ignore the fact that other people have practised, and sweated, on the same mat. After a particularly sweaty and slippery practice I decided that I needed to invest in a good yoga mat of my own. After talking to a few teachers and looking around on-line and in the shops, I settled on a PurEarth II Eco Travel Mat. At just 3mm it's quite thin, but this means it's light enough for me to take wherever I go. Also, for extra padding I can layer it with a studio mat, while still getting better grip and hygiene than the studio mats can offer. At £40 it's more than I would normally pay, but given I will spend 5 days a week on it, I think it's a worthwhile investment. However, the accompanying yoga bag for £35? I don't think so! To me that's just throwing money away. So when I got home I looked through some scraps of material I had and made my own. It took about an hour from start to finish, looks great, and best of all I will never get it mixed up with anyone else's yoga bag at the studio!

To make your own yoga bag you will need:

4 x rectangles of fabric 75cm x 14cm - A medium to heavy non-stretch cotton would be best

1 x square of fabric 14cm x 14cm 

1 x rectangle of fabric 100cm x 9cm 

1 x draw-string cord

Method:

1. Sew together your 4 rectangles of fabric lengthways, (good sides together) leaving a 1.5cm seam allowance at the side and also at both ends. You will end up with a tube with two openings, one at each end. Keep the seams on the outside whilst following the next step.

2. Take the end that will be the base of the bag and fold it open so that each side panel is visible, as above. 

3. Take the square of fabric and pin it onto the edges of the opening.

4. Carefully sew around the edges, leaving 1.5cm seam allowance, making sure you do not catch any of the rest of the fabric. 

5. You should now have a tube with one end closed. You can now pull the tube "inside out" so that the seams are now inside.

6. To create the drawstring closure, fold the remaining open end 4cm inside the tube. Sew around the circumference, making sure to leave a 2.5cm gap for your cord strip. If you want to make button holes to secure your cord string, do this before sewing the circumference. I didn't bother with button holes, so after sewing the circumference I simply cut two small holes on the outside and threaded the cord-string through with a safety pin.

7. To finish, sew your final rectangle into a shoulder strap. Fold in three lengthways and sew to secure. Sew one end close to (but not through) your drawstring closure, and the other end to the base of the bag.

And there you have it! Your very own yoga bag, and made for just a few pounds. 

Christmas Card Star

Got a spare 6 hours on your hands? Why not make a large spiky Christmassy star? I found this craft pattern here, a couple of years ago, and since then I have been hoarding all our old Christmas cards for this very project. I love the idea of recycling old Christmas cards, they are so beautiful (and some are so cheesy!) that they shouldn't be thrown away like any old rubbish. Another great idea would be to make Christmas tree ornaments out of them, or even a decorative paper chain.

Here are my little army of star points, twenty in all. I made  this over the weekend, and I think it took roughly 6 hours - not for the faint-hearted! (or impatient...) The end result was well worth it, very satisfying. Now all we need is a tree to hang it on!

Buy Nothing Day

I saw this quote on a poster last night, while drinking hot cider with my fellow book-clubbers at Drinkshopdo, a cute craft bar (is that a term?) near Kings Cross station. It struck a chord with me as it's a mantra which pretty much sums up my life at the moment. I have always been thrifty, picking up bargains at charity shops for as long as I can remember. I was fully clothed in hand-me-downs (mum timed my birth cleverly two years after her friend's twin girls!) and would always turn to the sewing machine rather than the high street as a fashion-obsessed teen. And now I have another reason to be economical with my possessions; every item I own will need to be either given to the charity store or shipped home when the Escape (from London back to NZ) happens. So although every inch of my being is yearning to nest and go crazy buying soft furnishings, I have to hold back. For now. While we're on the subject, I just found out that this Saturday, the 26th of December is Buy Nothing Day! In the UK at least. Perhaps a good day for a wardrobe re-shuffle, creating a new outfit from forgotten threads, a day to shine those winter boots, or do some baking. What will you be doing on Buy Nothing Day?