stop in the name of warmth

I found a post on a blog a while back on how to make your own draft stopper.  I was quite intrigued seeing as how we do not live in the most updated of apartments.  Our windows are not sealed so great and it's just all together not an energy efficient apartment.  We've tried to use this to our advantage as much as we can, leaving the windows open on cool nights (we live on the second floor, so it's safe!), leaving the heater off on chilly nights and bundling up with blankets.  It really has helped out on our electric bill.  However, now that the temperature is dropping down quite drastically that just isn't going to work.

What you need:
heavy fabric (I used an old pair of sweat pants, could get a few out of these)
Fiber-fill (the stuff you stuff inside pillows)
Small Scraps of fabric (to make bags for inside, no one will see)
Beans, pebbles or anything to weigh down the draft stopper
Needle and thread or a sewing machine (this is a super simple project, I used my sewing machine but, you could easily stitch this by hand)

What to do:
 Cut a piece of fabric that is about four inches longer than the width of your door and about ten inches wide.  I used sweat pants, so I pretty much just used one leg of the pants.

Sew the long ends of the piece together, inside out.  This will make an inside out tube of the fabric strip.

Make small bags out of the small scraps of fabric leaving one side open.  Fill the bag with the beans or rocks.  I used pea gravel I got from the Dollar tree and didn't even use half...more supplies for later crafts! YAY! 

Sew the little, filled bags closed by stitching the top.  Remember, these bags can be as ugly as homemade sin (that's country for REALLY ugly) and it won't matter because no one will see, them.  The bags are just to weigh down the stopper from the inside.

With the tube still inside out, sew one bag to the end of one side of the tube.  Sew closed the end you attach the baggie to.

Turn the tube right side out and fill with the fiber-fill.  I bought the biggest pillow I could find at Goodwill for less than $3, cut it open and used that filling rather than buying all new filling.  I didn't even use half of the filling form the pillow.

Finally, attach the second bag to the inside of the not yet sewn end of the tube and sew shut that end as well.

There you have it...your very own draft stopper. 

It took me about twenty minutes to make mine.  Granted, it isn't the absolute best looking thing I have ever made but, it's only going to be on the floor.  Plus, the price is quite appealing...less than $5 with supplies left over!!  You could certainly dress up this project with some prettier fabric, maybe some stenciling, stitching something with colored thread, an applique...whatever you want.