Thursday, January 17, 2008

Draft Dodgers

Are you finding that your old house is drafty and cold as winter settles in? Make a draft dodger to place at the bottom of the door. This will block some of those chilly drafts and keep your heating bill lower.

To make a draft dodger:
1) Fill two old tube socks with sand, tie, and place against door.
OR
2) Take a piece of fabric that is 13 inches tall and as long as your door (32 inches in my case). Fold it in half so the fabric is now 6.5 inches by 32 inches (or so). Sew a straight line down the edge. You may want to sew it twice for reinforcement. Turn the tube inside out, sew one end closed, fill the tube with sand, sew the other end closed, and place against door.

As part of my challenge to ReThink It, I spent some time looking through my clothing donation/rag bag for suitable cloth. I found two parts of brown corduroy pants with big rips and stains. I created a long piece of color blocked fabric by cutting out matching squares and sewing them together.

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I made two draft dodgers for our outside doors. Here's to a slightly toastier winter!

Materials:
Fabric: old pants
Sand: leftover from patio project

Cost: $0

6 comments:

Jen said...

Cute.. My house is drafty! I taped the french doors to the sunroom (VERY DRAFTY) shut with painters tape. ---It was handy...No cheap...Just handy. (The door has gaps that cold air was just pouring in.)

Green Bean said...

Aren't you very re-purposeful! I've thought about a draft dodger for one of our doors. Do you find that it really does help?

Chile said...

I'm pretty sure I could make a draft dodger with my rudimentary sewing skills, but I'm really impressed that you went to the extra effort to make a nice-looking one. Good job!

Jennifer said...

Jen~ Thanks! That's an idea I hadn't thought of... would definitely be a good temporary measure if I need it!

Green Been~ It definitely blocks the draft out of the bottom of the door! There is a noticable difference when I put my hand over it covered and uncovered. I don't know HOW MUCH it will help, but every little bit counts!

Chile~ I have only basic rudimentary sewing skills, too... you should have seen how LONG it took me to make that and how many times I broke the thread! I really wanted it to be cute, though, since our house is so small and you can't hide anything. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

How do you make sure the sand stays dry? I would think if some sand is still wet it might inhibit mold? Maybe a plastic bag liner. I tired rice, but in the cold months you tend to get a few vistors that like to chew through your sock.

chadandali said...

Thank you so much for this suggestion! I've been wanting a quick temporary fix for all of our drafty doors, and this I can do. Plus, I figure I can use some fabulous fabric I would have no other use for. Thanks!