How To Make A Draught Excluder: Upcycling Jeans for a Warmer Home

Inside: An easy tutorial on how to make a draught excluder from a jeans leg.

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

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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.
 

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