HOME DECOR DIY | Denim Draft Snakes
These denim draft snakes help keep the cold air outside of my old drafty house. The outside temperature has been in the low single digits and teens the last 2 weeks, making the inside temperature a bit chilly too. I live in a townhouse from the 70s, with windows and sliding doors that I can't replace. I can recaulk some small cracks, but I can't fill in everything or the sliding glass windows and doors won't function. The temporary solution comes in the form of this beginners sewing project. It's so basic that I had my 14 y/o daughter make two of these for our living room windows. I'm a faster and more accurate seamstress, so I made others for our home.
SUPPLIES:
Fairfield World provided me with their products for this project. They paid me to create this project. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own. I use Share-A-Sale and Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made using these links will result in my being paid a small commission.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Measure the bottom casing of your window or sliding door. Our living room window has a center panel that slides horizontally, so I have two interior casings on either side of that panel. This is the same set up for our sliding glass doors. Add 2" to your length measurement. The width will be 6"-8" depending on the depth of the casing. Mine are 6" wide.
2) Using a clear ruler and marker on the denim back, draft out one rectangle per window/door casing. I had Alex do this on the floor, so she had plenty of room and could learn patternless sewing. If you find patternless sewing a hassle, feel free to make a pattern with paper and reuse it for each draft snake. Cut out each rectangle with scissors
3) Fold a rectangle in half hot dog style/lengthwise. Straight pin the sides if desired. Load the sewing machine with thread. Sew 1/2" away from the raw edge. Sew along one short and one long side, leaving the other short side open.
4) Trim the sewn corners, making sure not to cut through the stitching. Turn the tube inside out, using the chopstick to shape the corners the best you can.
5) My innovative daughter chose to use a funnel and cup to fill the tube with Poly-Pellets. I didn't want these to be incredible heavy and possible weapons, so we alternated Poly-Pellets and Poly-Fil until the tubes were full. Use a dowel rod or something similarly skinny and pokey, to stuff the Poly-Fil into the tubes.
6) Turn in the raw ends of the short side and secure with a straight pin. Cut a long piece of thread. Put one thread end through the hand sewing needle's hole/eye. Match up the two thread ends and double knot. I used a very basic whip stitch to close the end. I didn't want any filling to escape and denim is very thick to sew. You could use an invisible seam if you wanted, but I felt no one was going to inspect my stitching on draft snakes.
Yesterday, I taught a beginners sewing class, where we made hand warmers to learn basic sewing skills. Small simple projects where straight lines are practiced are a great way to start sewing or amp up your existing sewing skills. There were some good questions about fillers for draft snakes and hand warmers. While we used rice for our hand warmers, rice and beans aren't recommended for draft snakes. Moisture can cause mold or sprouting, which is something you want to avoid especially when trying to keep the moisture and cold out. Use Poly-Pellets and Poly-fil, which can be put in the washing machine and of course won't create any growths...unless you consider a warmer house a growth in interior temperature. Whatever you're making, have fun with it. Stay safe and warm! Happy Makery!
SUPPLIES:
Fairfield World provided me with their products for this project. They paid me to create this project. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own. I use Share-A-Sale and Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made using these links will result in my being paid a small commission.
- Fairfield World Poly-Pellets
- Fairfield World Poly-Fil
- 1 Yard denim in color of your choosing
- Matching thread - I used black
TOOLS:
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Measure the bottom casing of your window or sliding door. Our living room window has a center panel that slides horizontally, so I have two interior casings on either side of that panel. This is the same set up for our sliding glass doors. Add 2" to your length measurement. The width will be 6"-8" depending on the depth of the casing. Mine are 6" wide.
2) Using a clear ruler and marker on the denim back, draft out one rectangle per window/door casing. I had Alex do this on the floor, so she had plenty of room and could learn patternless sewing. If you find patternless sewing a hassle, feel free to make a pattern with paper and reuse it for each draft snake. Cut out each rectangle with scissors
3) Fold a rectangle in half hot dog style/lengthwise. Straight pin the sides if desired. Load the sewing machine with thread. Sew 1/2" away from the raw edge. Sew along one short and one long side, leaving the other short side open.
4) Trim the sewn corners, making sure not to cut through the stitching. Turn the tube inside out, using the chopstick to shape the corners the best you can.
5) My innovative daughter chose to use a funnel and cup to fill the tube with Poly-Pellets. I didn't want these to be incredible heavy and possible weapons, so we alternated Poly-Pellets and Poly-Fil until the tubes were full. Use a dowel rod or something similarly skinny and pokey, to stuff the Poly-Fil into the tubes.
6) Turn in the raw ends of the short side and secure with a straight pin. Cut a long piece of thread. Put one thread end through the hand sewing needle's hole/eye. Match up the two thread ends and double knot. I used a very basic whip stitch to close the end. I didn't want any filling to escape and denim is very thick to sew. You could use an invisible seam if you wanted, but I felt no one was going to inspect my stitching on draft snakes.
Yesterday, I taught a beginners sewing class, where we made hand warmers to learn basic sewing skills. Small simple projects where straight lines are practiced are a great way to start sewing or amp up your existing sewing skills. There were some good questions about fillers for draft snakes and hand warmers. While we used rice for our hand warmers, rice and beans aren't recommended for draft snakes. Moisture can cause mold or sprouting, which is something you want to avoid especially when trying to keep the moisture and cold out. Use Poly-Pellets and Poly-fil, which can be put in the washing machine and of course won't create any growths...unless you consider a warmer house a growth in interior temperature. Whatever you're making, have fun with it. Stay safe and warm! Happy Makery!
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