When it comes to protecting our surfboards, we don’t mess around. Even though we do our best to prevent dings and UV sun damage (which causes that nasty yellowing), a good surfboard bag can help make things a whole lot easier on us (and on our boards). There are a few options out there made with heavy-duty cushioning for long distance travel, but when it comes to a simple sleeve that keeps boards covered during our morning commute or weekend road trips up the coast, we just figured we’d make our own. Our girl Megan gave us the step-by-step breakdown on a surfboard bag she made recently by sewing together a couple of cool fabrics she found while thrifting around town. So, if you got a little free time on your hands this weekend and have some boards that look like they’re in need of a little extra shade, we got you (and them) covered.
DIY: Surfboard Bag
- Surfboard measurements (length and width)
- Enough fabric to wrap around your board (plus a little extra for wiggle room)
- Thread
- Fabric scissors
- Sewing machine
- Chalk
- 2 grommets + a mallet hammer
- Pins (for fun)
Oh, and before you get started, make sure to prep the fabric first! We found some canvas material to cover most of the board, and scored this fun floral print that we wanted to use for the nose—adding patterned fabric was just for fun, but you can make it all out of canvas if that’s more your vibe. To combine the two pieces, we sewed about 3 feet of the floral fabric to the top of our larger piece of canvas fabric.
- Measure your surfboard and add at least 3 inches all around for a little extra room (better than too tight). Use these measurements to figure out how much fabric you'll need to get.
- Our board was about 6 feet long and 19 inches wide, so we left room on all ends for sewing. The easiest way to measure/cut correctly is by laying the board on top of one piece of your fabric and using chalk to outline it.
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We then cut the fabric around the chalked outline and put it to the side. (Duplicate this cut so you end up with 2 full-length pieces).
Time to bring it all together.
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Sew the two pieces of fabric together (from the inside out) and leave the bottom section open so that when you go to sew the pieces together, they don’t shift around.
- Next, bring your materials to the machine and follow the line all the way around the perimeter of the board bag; repeat this step 3 times so make sure your bag is sturdy and durable.
Last step, the bottom. - We wanted to make our bag with a drawstring closure. To do this you’ll want to hem the end of your fabric first, and then fold it over about ⅛ of an inch.
- Lay the string around that section and fold over about ½ of an inch (or more depending on the width of the string).
- Next up, insert the grommets. You’ll want your grommets to be about an inch apart & an inch and a ¼ down from the end of your fabric (remember you’ll be folding it down to sew your string inside).
- Once the grommets are put into the fabric, lay your string around & pull each end through.
- Fold down that inch of fabric, insert pins around it and sew! String should be completely enclosed.
- Time to turn your bag inside out (pattern side up).
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Finally, stick on a couple of rad pins, and you’re SET.
SB