DIY: Draft Stopper

Today I made 5 of these (yes, you read that right, 5). The Sears House is super drafty now that NY has finally realized it's December. So I went on a quest to find a good, reasonably priced Draft Stopper. The best price I could find was $10 for 1, that adds up when you have as many doors as we do. So I started looking for tutorials on them. I saw a bunch that required you to put a whole bunch of beans in a tube of fabric. That seemed doable, but I didn't have many dried beans so I kept looking. Then I came across these:

They seemed like the perfect idea since we use most of the doors that need them. But then the price tag ($10-$15). I just knew I could make it at a fraction of the cost, so this is what I came up with.

First you need some foam to go on each side of your stopper.

I used 1/2" plumbing insulation.

It cost $1.09 for a 6 foot piece at my local hardware store.

I measured it against the bottom of the door I was working on and cut it with scissors.

Then I cut some fabric (I used corduroy, wool, and this cotton)  into a 14"x 33" (the length of your cut foam plus 2") rectangle

Folded the fabric in half the long way (with right sides together) and sewed the whole thing into a long tube and sewed across one end.

Then I turned it right side out and sewed a straight line 2 1/2" from each side to form pockets for the tubing.

It's hard to see but it's a white line and a red line.

Inserted the tubing into both pockets.

Hemmed the open end.

And I was done!

I wish every sewing project was this easy!

Once I had the dimensions down I could make these (cutting and sewing) in about 10 minutes. Not bad for only costing me a little over a dollar, huh? 

Helpful Hints:

1. Your foam can be a little smaller then the door, but not bigger or it won't open and shut properly.
2. To keep a semi straight line for the foam pockets I marked my sewing machine arm where 2 1/2" was, I used a Sharpie (it'll wear off quickly for me), but you might want to just use tape so you can remove it.
3. I used push pins to keep my draft stopper in place on my front door. We have a lot of traffic through that door and I knew that we'd be fighting with it every time.

So if you're piggies are cold, go out and make one of these! 

Sewing doesn't get much easier then this!

Family Highlights:

• Three of the kids were in the church Christmas program tonight (all 3 had lines!), they did great!
• My kids are all very wound up for Christmas, I wonder if we'll get any school work done this week?
• I love when Christmas falls on a Sunday! I feel like it's a lot easier to focus on the true meaning of Christmas (Jesus Christ!).
• We barely have any snow, I wonder if it's going to be a green Christmas.
• All of the Christmas shopping is done and mostly wrapped. I'm just waiting for a couple things to arrive in the mail.
• I guess the kids gave Marc these suggestions for gifts for me: Make-up, chocolate, and Jewelry! Sounds about right to me! :-)