DIY Leather gym mat

Many people asked me about our gym mat. I used it so much for pictures and decoration. I was smitten with some mats online, but I didn’t have the budget to buy them, and they didn’t quite have the color I wanted. So I decided to make myself one. It was quite easy to make. You can use a sewing machine, but you can make it by hand as well.
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You will need:

Foam
Leather or vegan leather
Thread on the color of your leather
Thread in another color
Scissors
Needle
Pins
Pen
Sewing machine (optional)
and patience

Start looking for foam. You can buy it in hobby stores or on Amazon.  The size and thickness it is your choice. For my mat, I went for an 80cm square and a 3 cm thick foam pad. I wanted to have a small one. But you can choose a bigger one or even a smaller one. After this, you need to get the leather. I went to Frau Tulpe in Berlin and got some vegan leather in cognac color to fit my flat decor. Any leather will work. But the thicker the leather is, the harder it will be to sew.

Start marking your leather from the back of the fabric. You will need two round pieces and a long stripe to make this mat. The size of the round pieces is the size of the mat you want plus 1cm. That means for an 80 cm diameter mat, you will make an 82 cm diameter piece. Cut to of them
​and set aside.

Cut your foam. You can make it a square, rectangle, or any form you want, but I love circle mats. So I cut my foam in the size
I wanted: 80cm. You can use regular scissors or a carpet knife. Don’t worry if the edges aren’t perfect... this won’t be visible later.

For the stripe width, cut the thickness of your foam plus 1 cm per side. We are leaving this extra cm for sewing later. So if your foam is 3cm, cut this piece 5 cm wide. To know the length of it, use a regular math formula (and you thought you wouldn’t use math after school)

The formula is: π  x diameter= circumference so on my case 3.1416 times 80 would be the length I need plus 1cm per side equals 251,3 + 2 =253,3cm.

Ergo: your stripe will be 253,3 x 5cm.

If you don’t have a piece as long as the diameter, just cut 2 pieces and sew them together until it reaches the length you need. Now you have three parts: the two round ones and the stripe.

Now we start assembling. First, we join the two ends of the stripe with a pin and sew them together 1 cm away from the edge. Sew inside out, please! Now you have a belt-like loop. You can sew them like in the picture, so it will look tidier.

Now take one of the round pieces and secure the belt with pins, so it is easier to baste (baste means temporary stitching). Using a thread color that is different than your leather, baste the whole round so it won’t move when you are sewing them together.

Now using a sewing machine or just by hand, sew with the same color of your leather 1.5cm away from the edge. And secure the ends with a knot.

Iron the hem, so it looks flat like in the picture. This will help when you introduce the foam at the end. You can use a hot gun for this is your leather won’t bend.

Now test with the foam to see if it fits appropriately on size before you continue. If it fits, do the same with the other side. Don’t forget we are sewing inside out. Add pins, then baste and sew, leaving a space to introduce the foam. I went 20 cm open for that.

Turn it to the right side, roll the foam, and put it inside. It is such an annoying process if you are using vegan leather as I did as the foam won’t slide easily. But don’t give up hope! Once you have the foam in place, proceed to sew the hole until its closed. Add a knot, and don’t cut the thread; just leave it inside of the mat.

Now you have yourself a mat that looks good just hanging around or laying on a wall.

But if you really like the mat and have no spare time to make it, you can buy yourself one at Lille Svend KBH or Gathre. I don’t know where you can get one with vegan leather, though. I hope this helped you guys! Don’t forget to tag me when you make this DIY. It would make me so happy! Happy sewing!