Drafty

Winter has made its way to our corner of the NorthEast, early as it is. Let's call it Snovember. In an old cottage like ours, cold drafts manage to sneak in under the front door. My husband's been using one of the kid's blankets as a draft snake, and that just won't do. So, I spent 30 minutes this Saturday morning putting together a draft snake, with a removeable, washable cover.
Here is an easy way to make a draft snake, using materials around the house. Even if you don't have a fabric stash, you probably have something around the house that can be ripped up. An old flat sheet would be perfect. The fabric you see here is leftover from an Ikea curtain that I had trimmed to fit my window! You'll also need something to stuff the snake with. I used some extra polyfill leftover from another project, an assortment of beans (I left the beans in the packaging) and fabric scraps.

1. First, measure the length of the doorway you want to cover. 
2. When you cut your fabric, you'll want to add an inch to both sides, for seam allowance. You will make two tubes. You can use the same fabric for both tubes, or use two different fabrics. Either way, you need to cut four rectangular strips. The wider your strips, the more material you will need to fill it up but don't make it too skinny... you don't want it to be difficult to turn out and stuff. My strips were about 36" long and 8" wide. 
3. For the inner tube, lay two pieces of fabric on top of each other, right side in. Starting at the top right, sew down the long side, across the bottom short side and up the left long side, leaving the top short side open. Backstitch at both ends.
4. Turn the tube inside out, stuff it with your material, then sew up the open side, as close as possible to the filling, so that the tube is packed tight, with very little wiggle room. 
5. For the outside cover, lay the two pieces next to each other. Lay the inner tube on top of one of the pieces. Line it up so that the tube is an inch from the bottom, then fold down the top of the fabric over the tube. Slide the tube down and off the fabric, keeping the fabric folded down. On the other piece of fabric, fold down the top the same distance. Place these two fabrics on top of each other, folded sides in and folds lined up. 
6. As with the first tube, sew up three sides of the tube. 
7. Turn the tube inside out and put the snake inside. Flip the folds you made inside out to cover the top. 
8. All done.