Four yards of cotton fabric in a plain or neutral color. Choose a color you won’t mind staring at for long periods of time while holding your yoga poses. 11 yards of coordinating bias tape. Hi-lift quilt batting. Two yards of non slip fabric. Fabric glue. A dinner plate. Fabric chalk. Sewing pins. Access to a sewing machine.
You can give the mat rounded edges by folding the pieces into quarters. Use a plate to draw a curve on the edges of both pieces of fabric with a piece of fabric chalk. Then, trim the fabric along the chalk line.
Attach the batting to the two pieces of fabric using sewing pins, or follow the instructions on the package to iron on the batting if you are using iron on batting. Stagger the sewing pins about six inches apart on either side of the fabric so the batting is firmly in the middle of the two fabrics.
Use the fabric chalk to draw a vertical line in the center of the top piece of fabric. You should start by sewing on the marked line to make sure the tension of the machine is correct and to get used to sewing a straight line. You should be sewing down the length of the fabric. You can wear quilting gloves to help you guide the quilt through the sewing machine, as it can be tricky to keep both pieces of fabric straight as you sew. You can also make your own quilting gloves using a cheap pair of knit gloves and drawing lines on the insides of the gloves with fabric paint.
You can then flip the mat around and sew lines down the other half of the mat, starting from the inside and moving outward. When you are finished, you should have evenly spaced rows of sewn lines down both sides of the fabric.
Cut four 18 inch pieces of bias tape. Then, fold the short edges of the tape about ¼ inch under and sew them down. Re fold the bias tape pieces and sew along the open edges. Use pins to attach two pieces of sewn bias tape 6 inches in from each end of the mat. Place one piece on each side of the mat and sew them into place.
You can cut the non slip fabric into shapes, like diamonds or circles, and use the fabric glue to attach them to the bottom side of the mat. You can also put two diamonds or circles on either end of the top side of the mat so your hands and feet are secure when you practice yoga. Another option is to cut the non slip fabric so it covers both sides of the mat fully and attach both pieces with fabric glue so you have a full non slip surface that you can move around on during yoga class.
You can also use the colorful circles on the mat as markers for your hands and feet as you practice yoga.
Try to buy an area rug that is machine washable, or easy to clean, and made of short, durable fibers. You will likely sweat during your yoga class and you want to be able to wash the rug after you use it.
Avoid practicing barefoot and bare handed on a towel or a blanket, as these materials are no slip proof and can shift or move around as you do yoga.
