If you’re like me and live in an old house, you probably have a few doors that seem to welcome the cold in a little too enthusiastically. Maybe even if you DON’T live in an old house! Last winter, I found a little pile of snow inside one of our doors. Now, I didn’t have “winter” growing up, but I’m pretty sure it’s not normal to have SNOW piling up inside your house.
The offending door is a piece of work. Ill-fitting and improperly installed… but to really fix it we’d need to replace the door frame. I’m a little hesitant now to take on large projects because of our wee baby, so I wanted to find a way to literally keep the snow out of our house this winter. And maybe, you know, save a few bucks on heating.
My answer: a door snake!
It’s pretty simple – just a tube of fabric filled with kitty litter or sand (anything heavy, cheap, and non-compressible) that sits at the bottom of any door and keeps drafts out. Or SNOW. I was feeling lazy (or maybe just sleep-deprived, the wee one was just 2 months old) so I ordered one on Etsy. Easy! Alas, imagine my surprise when it arrived in a very small, flat envelope.
Womp womp.
The included instructions directed me to fill my sleeve with kitty litter or sand – neither of which I had lying around. The whole point was that I wouldn’t need to DO anything myself! So.. what I spent $20 on was a little sleeve of fabric with a velcro closure on one end. Pretty simple. Thus, my DIY wheels got turning again…! My husband’s office door wasn’t letting in snow, but it was still mighty drafty.
Guys, making one of these myself took 30 minutes using materials I already had lying around – with one exception, I had to order velcro. It’s SO easy.
Materials
- Any thick-ish fabric: you need a strip ~3′ long and 8″ wide. Great for using up scraps! I used leftover upholstery fabric from my DIY cordless roman shades
- Sew-on 5/8″ Velcro tape (I used this but there’s some wiggle room here)
- Thread for your sewing machine
- Fabric marker
- Kitty litter or sand
Equipment
- Sewing machine
- Scissors (real complicated stuff, I know!)
Directions
- Measure your drafty door width. Mine was 30″ wide.
- Take that measurement and add 3″ (so my number is 33″ now). Cut out a rectangle 8″ by however many inches you need.
- Turn your fabric wrong side up, fold each of the 8″ ends in ~3/4″, and sew.
- Cut 4″ strips of velcro: both the hooks and the eyes. Line them up along one 8″ end of your fabric and sew.
- Fold your fabric in half longitudinally keeping the wrong side out and sew all the way down keeping a 1/2″ seam allowance.
- Turn your fabric right side out!
- Sew the non-velcro end shut
Ignore that iron, didn’t need it - Fill that sucker with kitty litter/sand (a funnel is useful here) and your homemade door snake is now ready to bust some drafts!
Seriously, if this took ME 30 minutes, it will definitely take you less time. I am the world’s most tentative sew-er.
But whew! Isn’t that one hot door snake? Well… at least the room is warmer now than before it existed… (see what I did there..!)
Looks cozy. Good, practical solution.
Thanks! It at least matches the blinds in the hallway right next to it!
Just made one for my sister and it turned out well, thanks!
Great to hear! Thanks for letting us know.