Draft Stoppers: How to Make DIY Door Socks

These DIY draft socks are super simple to make, inexpensive, and work well to stop the chilly drafts from under doors or from window sills.

Oh, and they are freakin’ adorable too!  Here’s how to make your own.

Materials:

  • Socks – pick nice long ones.  Men’s woolly work socks are shown here, but knee socks would also be a great choice
  • Dried popcorn
  • Stuffing from old pillows, an old sweater, etc
  • Fabric scrap
  • Sewing machine or needle and thread

Directions:

1.  Measure the length of the doorway or window you would like to use the draft sock on.  Cut a length of fabric that is 1 inch longer than your measurement and 10 inches wide (you want the sock just slightly longer than the doorway, so it fits in snugly).  Fold the fabric in half and pin.  Using your sewing machine or needle and thread sew one end and the length of the fabric so that you have a long tube that is open at one end.

2. Fill tube alternately with dried popcorn and the stuffing you have chosen.  Popcorn is used for weight, but it is also inexpensive and won’t go rancid like some other dried goods.  The stuffing helps to give the sock a nice shape and insulates against the cold air. When the tube is really packed full all the way to the end, pin the end and sew it shut.

3. Turn socks inside out and sew the heels straight so that when the sock is covering the tube, the heels don’t protrude.

4. Pull the sock over your hand still inside out.  Grab the end of the filled tube with your sock hand and unfold the sock over the tube.

5. Add the second sock of the pair to the other end, and overlap the first sock.

That’s it!  An easy, cheap, effective, and stylish door sock in no time at all.

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Comments

  1. thanks for the popcorn idea! I’ve been meaning to do this all winter but beans are expensive!!!!!!!!!

    xox

  2. Thanks for stopping by at my site to comment, as it got me to discover your beautiful site! I am your newest follower and would be honored if you would like to follow back, if not, no hard feelings :-).
    have a gorgeous day
    Jutta

  3. This is adorable!! TFS!! Stopping by from You’re talking too much linky party and your newest follower here, FB and Pinterest.

    Here is what I’m sharing this week: http://craftybrooklynarmywife.blogspot.com/2012/01/hollys-first-coat.html

  4. I recently moved and have more drafty doors than I used to, so I will definitely be making some of these for our place. Thanks for the simple solution!

  5. It’s been windy and cold here so this is just what I need! Thanks for sharing!
    ~Tonia @TheGunnySack.com

  6. what a very clever idea and so easy to do

  7. Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. says:

    What a cute and thrifty idea! Thanks so much for sharing!

  8. Thank you for sharing this terrific tip at Potpourri Friday!

  9. I am very impressed with this blog! Now all I have to do is wrestle a sock off the dog, find one without dog tooth marks in it, take a special trip into town to purchase a “nice” pair of socks (which will no doubt be pilfered the moment I get in the door by the dog) and find 10 minutes to sit down and make this lovely project. Thank you for these really lovely projects that make appropriate and most thoughtful gifts that anyone would want to receive. I am going to give my very first wind sock to the dog (because otherwise he will eat it anyway…sigh)

  10. It’s starting to get cold here in IN and this would be great! Thanks for the great tutorial and I’ll be sharing over on my FB today.

  11. I bought feed or seed corn to fill heat/ice sacks with…it’s really cheap (I bought about 10 lbs.) at the feed store when we went to buy dog food. It’s amazing what you can get at them. I need these for 2 doors and I’m thinking maybe at the bottoms of a few windows (we live in a 1920 farmhouse.

  12. great tip, Susan!

Trackbacks

  1. [...] Oh, and they are freakin’ adorable too!  Here’s how to make your own. [...]

  2. [...] I had some left over popcorn from making door socks a few weeks ago.  Popcorn has the perfect weight and feel for eye pillows, it doesn’t go rancid [...]

  3. [...] hot air to escape and stop cold air from entering your home. Don’t want to buy some? You can even make them yourself at home with some wool socks, popcorn kernels, and pillow [...]

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