Keep Cold Air Inside with a Draft Blocker

pinned draft stopper

You might think of a draft blocker – aka a draft dodger – as something to keep cold air out during winter months, but you can also use it to keep cold air in all summer long. Here’s a quick and easy way to sew your own DIY draft blocker for drafty doors or windows.

You might think of a DIY draft blocker - aka a draft dodger - as something to keep cold air out during winter months, but you can also use it to keep cold air in all summer long.

Related: 35 Ways to Refashion a T-Shirt

DIY Draft Blocker

Materials

  • tape measure
  • 1/2 yard of medium to heavy weight fabric
  • iron
  • sewing machine
  • large bag of rice, sand, or kitty litter
  • funnel
  • cup for scooping

Directions

1. To get started, measure your door. You want to make sure your finished product blocks the whole underside. Add 1 1/2″ to your measurement for your seam allowances and to make sure your draft dodger goes slightly past the door on either end. My door was 36″ wide, so that means cutting the fabric to 37 1/2″ wide. No matter what size your door, you’ll want to cut the fabric about 8″ high.

2. Fold the fabric in half on the short side, right sides together. So, I’m now looking at a rectangle that’s 4″ X 37″. Pin along that long, unfinished edge. You’ll sew that whole edge and only one of the short edges. I did this twice, so the seams would be reinforced a little, but this second pass is optional.

3. Turn your project right side out. If you are having trouble flipping things, a wooden dowel or broomstick is your friend. Once your project is right side out, give it a quick press with your iron.

filling the DIY draft stopper

4. For this next part, you’ll want to go outside, because things can get a little bit messy. I filled our draft dodger with some leftover kitty litter that our cats hated. No matter what you’re using, let’s learn from my mistake here. Don’t try to pour directly from the heavy bag of litter, rice, or sand into your draft dodger. You’ll end up with half of the filling on the floor! Instead, use your scoop to get a manageable amount out of the big bag, then pour it into the dodger with your funnel. Less mess!

5. Fill up the dodger, leaving about 1″ unfilled. Grab your pins, and fold the unfinished edge inward. You’ll want to do some tricky pinning, otherwise you risk getting your filling all over your sewing room. Not only do you want to pin across your folded edge, use a couple of pins parallel to the edge to keep your filling at bay, like in the picture below.

pinned draft stopper

6. This next part is all about finesse. Stick the folded, pinned edge into your sewing machine. Sew several backwards stitches, then sew along the edge to close it up. Finish with some more back stitches to reinforce the closure. It’s a little tricky to maneuver the heavy draft dodger in the machine, so just take your time. I found it helpful to rest the other end of the thing on the bookshelf that’s next to my sewing table. You might try bringing a folding table over or something like this to support the weight. It will make it much easier to maneuver your project in the machine if you don’t have to support that weight with your left hand!

That’s it! From here, you’re ready to keep cool air in all summer and cold air out all winter long.

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