12 Days of Crafting, Day 4: a draft snake

Welcome to Day 4 of the 12 Days of Crafting. Today, I’ll show you how to give the gift of warmth with a “draft snake.”

Draft snakes are tube-shaped pillows that you lay on the crack at the bottom of a door to block cold air from coming into your house. And they work! I have a couple at home (and plan to make more), and I swear they keep the house cozier.

The snakes are weighted with either sand or pebbles so they rest snuggly on the crack.

Here’s a slideshow that illustrates the steps below.

You will need:

• Two 3-inch by 40-inch pieces of “inner” fabric. This fabric won’t be seen when you’re done, so use something you’re trying to get rid of.
• Two 6-inch by 40-inch pieces of “outer” fabric. This fabric will be seen, so choose wisely.
• Polyfil, polyester beads or some other stuffing. Since this is a “green” project by nature, see if you can recycle some stuffing from an old pillow or use a natural stuffing, like wool.
• A long wooden dowel or other tool to pack the stuffing into the snake.
  
• Sand, pea gravel or something similar to weigh down the snake
• A funnel or rolled up piece of junk mail
• Basic sewing machine supplies
• Optional: a small piece of red felt

1. Lay the two pieces of inner fabric on top of each other and sew them together on the two long sides and one of the short ends to create a tube shape. Don’t worry about putting right sides together and turning the tube right side out since the “inner tube” will be hidden when you’re done.

2. Place the funnel at the open end of the inner tube and pour in some of the sand or gravel. Once you’ve filled the tube a bit, go back to the sewing machine and sew across the width of tube to trap the sand at one end.

3. Add more sand and then sew across the tube again, trapping the sand in one more place, sort of making sausage links. This is so all the sand doesn’t migrate to one end of the snake or the other.

4. Repeat the sand/sausage-link process until you have four sand sausages. Sew the opening of the inner tube shut.

5. Place the right sides of the outer fabric together and sew down one long end. When you get to the first short end, place one end of the inner tube under your presser foot so that you catch it as you sew across the outer fabric’s short end. This will keep the inner tube from moving around inside the snake once it’s done.

6. Continue sewing down the other long end of the outer fabric.

7. Turn the outer fabric right side out, pulling the inner tube through as you go. You’ll end up with what looks like a very long mouth with a sand-filled tongue inside. Pleasant, huh?

8. Now start stuffing the tube with polyfil or a natural stuffing. Use the dowel to cram it in.
That step might take a while, so put on some “Feliz Navidad,” fix yourself a Christmas cocktail and get your jingle bell on.

9. Once you’ve stuffed the entire tube, turn the fabric at the open end under.
(Option: It’s a cheesy/cute (take your pick) tradition to put a snake’s tongue at one end of a draft snake. To do so, cut a small piece of red felt into the shape of a snake’s tongue and place it in between the folded outer fabric ends.)
Sew across all layers, capturing the other end of the inner tube, to seal the snake shut.

10. Tie a bow around the snake’s neck with a gift tag that reads:
Place your new pet on the inside crack of a door, turn down your thermostat and pat yourself on the back for helping Mother Nature.