How to Make a Yoga Mat

If you're interested in practicing yoga and don't have your own yoga mat, you can make one yourself from a few simple materials. The process may take several hours if you don't have a sewing machine, but when you're finished, you'll have a customized, durable yoga mat that's unlike any you can buy in stores. To make sure your crafting goes as smoothly as possible, get your materials ahead of time and read over all the steps before you start each one.

Step 1

Make your yoga mat as big or as small as you'd like. Ask for a cut of fabric that is about two yards long if you would like to make a traditionally sized mat of about 24 inches by 68 inches.

Step 2

Choose your fabric. The fabric will be the top surface of your mat and the area on which you place your hands and feet and hold poses when you are doing yoga, so it should be somewhat grippy and not slippery. Try placing your hands on several types of fabric and sliding them back and forth to see what might work well and what won't work before you buy a measure of fabric.

Step 3

Purchase a non-slip runner or other type of non-slip liner material that is about the same size as or a little bit smaller than the size of your yoga mat. For example, if you would like your mat to be 24 inches by 68 inches, you may want to purchase or cut a non-slip runner that is 22 inches by 66 inches to leave a 1-inch border of fabric all around the runner.

Step 4

Lay the cut and measured piece of mat fabric on a large, flat surface, and place the non-slip runner on top of it. Use several dressmaker pins to secure the two materials together.

Step 5

Sitch around the border where the non-slip runner meets the fabric, with a needle and thread or a sewing machine. To make the stitches as secure and durable as possible, you may need to stitch over the border two or three additional times.

Step 6

Tie off the end of the thread in a tight, secure knot, and cut off any slack. Use your yoga mat with the non-slip runner on the floor and the fabric smoothed out and flat. Prop up your mat and add extra thickness by placing a towel on top. Store your mat by rolling it up into a coil and placing it in a yoga mat bag.