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You are here: Home / Crafts / Funky DIY draught excluder pattern

Funky DIY draught excluder pattern

20th January 2016 by Claire Armstrong 42 Comments

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Funky Colourful DIY “MIND THE GAP” Draught Excluder

The price I pay for living in an old victorian house is the draughtiness, the doors and windows are so old they don’t quite fit as snuggly as they should. To keep the cold at bay I make draught excluders. I have made a funky colourful draught excluder stitched on one side with some playful typography “Mind The Gap” and backed in denim.
 
I love using puns and words with personal significance with my DIY crafts. I made a “Sit Down” cushion, not only is Sit Down by James our wedding song but it’s an apt phrase for a cushion. “Mind the Gap” is an audible and visual warning you will hear all the time on the London Underground and I thought this would be great for a draught excluder. Also it would compliment the Tube Map chair I made last summer.
 
Make this funky diy draught excluder - includes free supersized cross stitch (needlepoint) pattern.
 
Pillarboxblue cross stitch cushions
 
MInd The Gap _ Draught Excluder
 
Now you maybe thinking that cross stitch takes too long and is too much of a faff for a draught excluder, however I used supersized and half stitch cross stitch for this project. Not only did this make it super easy, it really speeded things up.
 

“Mind the Gap” Cross stitched draught excluder

What you need

  • Downloaded “MIND THE GAP” cross stitch pattern :MIND THE GAP STITCH PATTERN
  • Cross stitch canvas 7-8 hpi (holes per inch) 80cm x 15cm approx. I used as Zwiegart Aida canvas.
  • DK (Worsted) weight wool in desired colours. I used approximately a 100g of wool in total for this project.
  • Tapestry needle, scissors & pen.
  •  
    Print out your pattern and transfer or copy it to your canvas. Doing this saves a lot of time as you don’t have to keep counting stitches to work out where you are. Using your DK wool stitch the pattern with a simple half stitch, make sure that all your stitches go the same way.

    half stitch
     
    Mind The Gap Draught excluder
     
    Mind the Gap draught excluder
     

    How to turn your cross stitch into a draught excluder

    What you need:

  • Leg of an adult jean or a piece of fabric 80cm by 15cm
  • Pins, needle thread, sewing machine (can be done by hand if you don’t have one
  • Old pillow filling or fiber stuffing
  •  

      Once your cross stitch is finished cut the excess canvas leaving a margin of at least 1cm all the way round. Then cut your denim or fabric backing to the same size as your cross stitch.
       
      Mind The Gap Draught excluder - Pillarboxblue
       
      DSC_0210

     

      Pin your denim backing and your cross stitch right sides together. Leaving one end open, sew together to the edge of the cross stitch. You can either do this with a sewing machine or by hand.
       
      DSC_0215
       
      DSC_0230

     

      Using the open end turn the draught excluder right side out. This will be a little tricky and you may need a long ruler to help you.
       
      DSC_0234

     

      Stuff your draught excluder, you will need something to push the stuffing fiber right down to the end. Once firmly stuffed stitch up the open end.
       
      DSC_0246

     
    Mind the Gap - Draught Excluder
     

    Mind The Gap -draught excluder
     
    Mind The Gap - Draught Excluder

     
    Not only are the doors draughty in my house, but I still have the original sash windows which though lovely don’t stop the wind. I therefore make smaller draught excluders for these too. These I fill with rice, or lentils to provide a bit of weight which also stops the windows rattling in the wind.

     
     
    This post contains amazon affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to see my disclosure policy.
     
     

    Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With: Cross stitch, cross stitch cushion, cross stitch door stop, cross stitched draught excluder, door stop, draught excluder, half cross stitch, mind the gap, needle point, needle point cushion, supersized cross stitch

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Super Mom - No Cape!

      29th January 2016 at 3:20 pm

      What a great project! It’s always fun when we can take something we love to do and turn it into something useful.

      Thanks so much for linking up to this week’s Stitchery Link Party. Aloha hugs!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        29th January 2016 at 4:10 pm

        Thank you, glad you like it !

        Reply
    2. cinti

      29th January 2016 at 6:39 am

      Love this, you are so clever. Off to check out the rest of your blog x Cinti

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        29th January 2016 at 7:18 am

        Cheers ! i hope you like the rest of the blog.

        Reply
    3. Anna

      27th January 2016 at 7:05 pm

      That’s fun, I love the cushion and the chair too. And the dog 🙂

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        27th January 2016 at 8:13 pm

        Thanks ! The dog’s called Lottie and just happened to walk into the frame whilst I was taking the photo.

        Reply
    4. CathieJ

      26th January 2016 at 1:02 am

      After remodeling our home 11 years ago there is no more need for a draught catcher, but I really like yours. I’m wondering if anyone I know might need one.

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        26th January 2016 at 7:06 am

        Thank you ! It would make a lovely present.

        Reply
    5. Lisa Sharp

      25th January 2016 at 7:31 pm

      This is so adorable! I could use some of these in my house as well.

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        25th January 2016 at 8:36 pm

        Thank you very much !

        Reply
    6. Hannah@SeeingtheLovely

      25th January 2016 at 7:28 pm

      What a cute idea! I’ve only ever done small cross-stitch, but this looks fun! Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        25th January 2016 at 8:35 pm

        Thanks ! You should definitely give supersized cross stitch, nice and speedy.

        Reply
    7. Lin

      25th January 2016 at 7:04 pm

      Brilliant play on words – I love it. xx

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        25th January 2016 at 8:34 pm

        Cheers !

        Reply
    8. Nancy

      25th January 2016 at 5:02 pm

      You are so talented!! This is a wonderful project and I thank you so much for the great detailed instructions. I’m going to be following your blog, great stuff. Thanks again for the good directions. Stay warm.

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        25th January 2016 at 5:19 pm

        Thank you very much ! Your very kind. I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog it’s quite varied, I just love lots of different crafts.

        Reply
    9. Christine B.

      25th January 2016 at 1:02 pm

      What a great project! I love the saying and your upcycling! Beautiful draught excluder! Christine x

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        25th January 2016 at 1:46 pm

        Thank you very much !

        Reply
    10. Suzanne

      24th January 2016 at 12:40 pm

      This is such a useful and resourceful project. I like the up cycling with the jeans too!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        24th January 2016 at 4:43 pm

        Thank you ! I always keep old jeans to upcycle !

        Reply
    11. creativejewishmom/sara

      23rd January 2016 at 9:55 pm

      Love it! Thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        23rd January 2016 at 11:22 pm

        Thank you !

        Reply
    12. Vicky

      23rd January 2016 at 2:14 pm

      Lovely! I love the cushion too, and a fab tutorial. Thanks for sharing x

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        23rd January 2016 at 2:22 pm

        Thank you glad you liked it.

        Reply
    13. Julie

      23rd January 2016 at 12:36 pm

      This is such a fun project. I’m sure we used to call this half cross stitch with thick wool “tapestry” when I was a kid, I remember having a kit to make a picture of a horse!
      I also remember living in a house when we had draught excluder everywhere – sounds a bit like yours! Good luck and keep warm.

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        23rd January 2016 at 2:22 pm

        Thanks ! I’m never sure what the difference is between tapestry, cross stitch and needlepoint.

        Reply
    14. Kerry

      23rd January 2016 at 2:41 am

      That’s so darn cute!! You’re super talented! 🙂

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        23rd January 2016 at 7:54 am

        Thank you very much !

        Reply
    15. Donna H

      22nd January 2016 at 7:21 pm

      I love this! I’ve been wanting to get back into cross stitching, but the squares are too small for me to see. This pattern is perfect, and charming too! Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        22nd January 2016 at 7:28 pm

        Yes using a large holed canvas makes it much easier to see and much quicker.

        Reply
    16. Crystal

      22nd January 2016 at 1:05 am

      These look so awesome. I love the colorful design. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        22nd January 2016 at 8:23 am

        Thanks, it’s great to have splashes of colour in the house.

        Reply
    17. Jennifer

      21st January 2016 at 11:50 pm

      So cute! Thanks for sharing at My Flagstaff Home.

      Jennifer

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        22nd January 2016 at 8:24 am

        Thank you very much!

        Reply
    18. Pam@over50feeling40

      21st January 2016 at 4:18 pm

      So cute! Thanks for sharing your creativity on the Thursday Blog Hop!

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        21st January 2016 at 10:40 pm

        Thank you !

        Reply
    19. Robyna

      21st January 2016 at 7:37 am

      LOVE the idea of over-sized cross stitching. It looks fabulous.

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        21st January 2016 at 10:50 am

        Thank you ! It’s really quick too compared to normal cross stitch.

        Reply
    20. Sigrid

      21st January 2016 at 6:03 am

      This is great!! Inspires me to do something with letters on my crocheting too.
      The colors are so cheerful, you did a great job!
      Have a nice day,
      Sigrid

      Reply
      • Claire Armstrong

        21st January 2016 at 7:10 am

        Thank you ! I do like a bit of colour.

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Party in Your PJs #91 - Bumblebreeblog says:
      3rd February 2016 at 1:02 am

      […] Funky Colourful DIY “MIND THE GAP” Draught Excluder […]

      Reply
    2. Funky DIY Door Draft Stopper - Inspiration DIY says:
      22nd January 2016 at 2:48 am

      […] See it HERE! […]

      Reply

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