I live in an older home. That being said, I have a lot of drafts that come in from under the doors. I have 5 doors that lead outside. 2 doors are VERY drafty. The other 3 are pretty tight. But the 2 doors that are drafty might as well have my hard earned dollars flowing right out from underneath them.
So, I decided to make draft stoppers. This was a very easy project.
You will need 1 yard of fabric (I bought 1 yard of 2 types of fabric to coordinate in 2 different rooms), a 10 pound bag of cat litter (or rice or beans, just try to avoid stuffing), a sewing machine, and a yard stick.
NOTE: There is a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
NOTE: The reason for 2 tubes is to prevent the kitty litter dust from coming out.
First, measure the bottom of your door.
Then, unfold your fabric and fold it the long way, selvage to selvage, then fold over again, keeping the selvages together and on the bottom.
Line up the selvages on a cutting mat, or use your yardstick to keep a straight line, cut off the selvages.
Cut 2 strips of fabric, one 5 inches wide and the other 6 inches wide.
Cut the excess fabric off. For example: I have a 30 inch door, I need only 31 inches of fabric. My fabric is 36 inches long. I had to remove 5 inches from the strips.
Take the first strip and fold in half length-wise with the right sides together.
Close one end on the sewing machine.
Close the fabric on the long edges, creating a tube.
Trim the corners of the closed end.
Turn the tube right side out using the yardstick for help.
Repeat the previous 5 steps with the second strip of fabric.
Fill the tube with the litter (or other filler) and remember to shake down the filler as you are filling. Fill the tube to 1 inch less than the length you need.
Go back to the machine and cut off the excess, leaving 1 inch of fabric more than the filler. Fold the fabric in on itself, then in on itself again.
Close the end of the tube with the machine.
Put this tube in the second tube with the end you have just closed first.
Leave 1 inch of fabric past the tube and trim the rest.
Fold the fabric in on itself, then in on itself again.
Close the tube on your machine.
Place against your door and feel the difference!
That's it! I made 2 within 1 hour. In fact, it took me longer to make this post than it did for me to make the draft stopper!
Let's break down the cost.
With 2 yards of fabric, I can make 6 draft stoppers.
2 yards of fabric on discount from Walmart @ $1.50/yard = $3
1 bag of kitty litter (10 lbs) = $1.83
Total: $4.83 for 6 draft stoppers
$4.83/6=$0.81 each!
