How To Make A Draught Excluder: Upcycling Jeans for a Warmer Home
Learn how to make a stylish and eco-friendly draught excluder using an old pair of jeans! This simple DIY project helps keep your home cosy and energy-efficient while upcycling denim for a practical purpose. Perfect for a fun and sustainable craft!
My Victorian townhouse is the bee's knees during the scorching summers - it's like Mother Nature's own AC. But, come winter, and brrr... it's an icicle party! Thus began my quest to combat the winter chill, and what better way to do it than with some denim DIY magic?
The wind howls through the gaps like a headbanger at a metal gig, and my sash windows and vintage doors rattle like maracas. It's charming, in a “haunted mansion” kind of way. But I adore my old windows and doors – they’ve got character! No way am I trading them for plastic.
Enter the DIY denim draught excluder – the ultimate showdown between my home and the wintry fiend that is the draught. Armed with old jeans, I stitched up a storm for my doors and windows. But wait, there’s a twist!
I couldn’t resist jazzing up my denim warriors with British humour. One of my draught excluders is now the proud bearer of "Mind The Gap" - if you've been to London, this one's a classic; it's practically the city's catchphrase! And then, the cherry on top, another draught excluder, struts around with "Draft Dodger" emblazoned on it (shoutout to the genius reader who suggested it!).
These denim door snakes don’t just fight the cold; they do it with sass and a wink. So grab your old jeans, and let’s show those draughts what we're made of!
FAQs about How to Make a Draught Excluder
To make a basic draught excluder, you’ll need fabric (such as old jeans or any sturdy material), a sewing machine or needle and thread, scissors, a ruler, pins, and filling material like rice, beans, or polyester stuffing.
Absolutely! If sewing isn’t your cup of tea, you can use fabric glue or iron-on adhesive to seal the edges of the fabric. Just make sure it’s secure enough to hold the filling material.
You can use rice, dried beans, sand, or polyester stuffing. Some people also like to recycle old textiles, like t-shirts or towels, by cutting them into strips and using them as stuffing.
Measure the width of the door or window where you want to place the excluder and add an inch or two for seam allowances. The excluder should cover the entire width to effectively prevent draughts.
Yes! It's a great idea to mix in some dried lavender or add a few drops of essential oil to the filling material. This way, your draught excluder also acts as a lovely fragrance diffuser.
If you’re using rice or beans as filling, it’s best to spot-clean the excluder with a damp cloth. If you're using polyester stuffing, you can usually machine wash it on a gentle cycle. Always check the care instructions of the fabric you are using.
Definitely! To do this, make an inner draught excluder with plain fabric to hold the filling, and then create a decorative outer cover with an opening (like an envelope or with a zipper) that can be removed and washed.
The weight depends on your preference and the size of the gaps you’re trying to cover. Generally, it should be heavy enough to stay in place but not so heavy that it’s difficult to move or reposition.
Of course! Feel free to get creative with fabrics, colours, and patterns. You can also add appliques, patches, or paint on designs to give your draught excluder a personal touch.
We're a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
How To Make A Draught Excluder
What you need
- Old pair of adult jeans - kids jeans would do for the smaller window DIY draught excluder.
- Rotary cutter and mat
- Sewing Machine- with needles suitable for denim
- Fiberfill - you can buy some or use an old pillow. (If making a window DIY draught excluder, you may want to use lentils or rice for the filling.)
- Letter Stencils
- White Paint - You can use either acrylic or fabric paint.
- Foam paint brushes
- If making a window DIY draught excluder, a leather strip or denim seam loop for a hanging tag.
How To Transform A Jeans Leg Into A Door Snake
Step `1: First, measure the width of your door (or window) for the DIY draught excluder. My doorways are approximately 80cm (just over 2.5 feet) wide.
Then turn your jeans inside out and cut the leg to the length of your doorway; most adult jeans should be long enough (if not, you may need to make your DIY draught excluder in two parts).
Step 2: The leg of your jean is unlikely to be a completely uniform width across the whole length. Also, it will likely be much fatter than you want for your DIY draught excluder. Therefore you will need to mark and sew down the length of the leg to even it up. I stitched the leg approximately five inches from the seam with the door DIY draught excluder.
The window DIY draught excluder was made much thinner (about 1.5 inches from the seam).
Step 3: Next, turn the jean leg right side out and stencil the pun you have chosen on the front. Whatever paint you use, lay the stencil directly on the denim, and hold down the stencil as you apply the paint with a dabbing action.
If you use acrylic paint, you may want to set it with an iron and a 50/50 vinegar/water mixture (like I did with my doily stencilled pillow and denim stencilled table runner)
Step 4: Fill your DIY draught excluder once the paint is dry. For the door excluders, I use fibre fill from old pillows.
However, for the window excluders, I use either rice or lentils. This gives weight to the window draught excluders, which help them mould to the gaps in the window. As well as keeping out draughts. The heavier filling also helps stop the sash windows from rattling in the wind.
Step 5: To finish, stitch up the ends when full. I add a loop (leather or denim) for the window excluders so I can hang them when not in use.
Other Stencil Phrase Ideas
My house has several doors and sash windows, so I have several draught excluders. These denim upcycles only used the legs of the jeans; there are some ideas of things you can make out of the leftover jeans pockets here. You can make cute heart keyrings from small scraps or a bouquet of denim flowers.
If you have any more draught-related puns I could use, I would love to hear them. Here are some others I've already had.
- Gap jeans
- Gone With The Wind
- Catchin' Air
- Breeze Blocker
- Blowin' In the Wind
- Baby, It's Cold Outside
- Wind Whisperer
- Chill Out
These denim draught excluders are quick and easy to make, but if you want to make a more colourful DIY draught excluder, I have a tremendous free needlepoint pattern here for a funky draught excluder. Also, there are tips for painting on denim here that can be used to decorate your draught excluder.
The denim door snakes also match my decor; I have a waistband denim rug on the floor and in the lounge, some Boho jeans pillows on the sofa. Not to mention all the other upcycled denim decor dotted around the house, like these denim pear doorstoppers.
You might also want to check out some of my other popular denim upcycles:
What you can repurpose from one pair of old jeans.
Denim Pocket Organizer
iPhone Denim Pocket Pillow
No-Sew Denim Suitcase
Post updated June 2023
Cold shoulder
Love it, goord idea.
Question, do you have any problems with them molding from condensation? Was thinking rice might help prevent that from happening. Thanks
No Penny I haven't had that problem. They keep the draught out but don't seem to get wet, if they did I'd just put them on the radiator to dry.
“Break Wind”
“Wind Breaker”
Love them especially " Break Wind" thank you.
Enjoy your suggestions... here’s another comment...
“just a rough draft”
Thank you, like it!
I made a bunch of them back in the 1980’s out of cotton fabric. I made the window widths reach side to side inside the frames as cool air gets in on those sides. I filled mine with construction sand (not play sand). I still use them today!
They sound great too!. Mine certainly make a difference in the winter.
Great idea for floor drafts but the ones I have seen were filled with heavier filling such as beans or rice. Just saying 🙂
YThank you. You can fill them with lentils and beans. I do fill my smaller window ones with lentils. However, with the bigger ones I find that fiberfill works just fine for me.
At least for American crafters, sports drafts could be fun. "#1 draft pick" for instance. Also, "what's on draft?" And then you could always do "are you draft?!" (Daft), "arts and drafts," or "fore and draft" for the nautical crowd.
?? loving the suggestions and puns, thank you!
Love these, I have a couple I use in my home and they work well, when you're on the inside but when you leave the room or house of course it is left away from the door. An idea I had was to attach on each end a matching piece, almost like a flat belt that would slide under the door so when you go out and close the door you can pull the "belt" pulling the draft stopper back up against the door and the last draft will be just that, keeping the heat inside,
Thank you Kathy, and the belt thing sounds like a really good idea.
Maybe Velcro them to the door? Haven't tried it, but it might work?
OMG your draft dodger is too cute! As is your dog! I need to make a few of these for our home. A jean pant leg is a great idea! I may even get away with only hot gluing it since I don't have sewing machine. ;o)
Thank you, they are really handy especially as its started to get colder here.
An awesome way to reuse denim jeans, Claire. The wind is howling outside and I could do with some draught excluders in my lounge room right now. I have piles of old jeans ready to be used. Featured today, both your tutorial and your blog...
Thank you very much ! They do actually make a difference with draughts.
Such a cute idea, and perfect for my winter friends up north!
Thank you very much.
Claire this is such a practical idea. And more importantly you had it look so stylish.
Thank you Mary. I have had some good suggestions for more pun stencils "Chill out", "Gone with the Wind" and my favourite "Say No to Crack".
So happy to see your instructions! I need these for old windows too. I once saw a double sided one. A plain piece of fabric ran under the doors and windows with the filled fabric tube on each side to double insulate. With your great tutorial I might try making one. Maybe roll each edge of the leg over and sew two smaller rolls leaving some fabric between them? Do you think that would work? I'm not much of a seamstress.
Thank you, it's worth a try. By the way I do find the window ones very effective.
Your draught dodger is awesome. Love the words, Mind the Gap! yes, we have been to London and we laughted everytime we stepped off the tube. Thanks for sharing your creativity at DI&DI.
Thank you ! "Mind the gap" is a very London expression.