How to make a draught excluder

I am so cold at the moment that I've taken to sitting inside with my feet on a hot water bottle.

Freezing weather might make for pretty pictures, but it's not so picturesque if your home isn't well insulated.

Last weekend I discover my new home is about as well insulated as a beach hut. Everywhere I go there seems to be a draught. As it's a rental property, I have to get permission from my landlord to alter any of the fixtures, so I got out my sewing machine to make some draught excluders instead.

They didn't cost much because I used fabric discarded from some curtains I had altered, and they've allowed me to turn my heating down a notch. So at least I'm saving money (and doing my bit for the environment).

It takes a matter of minutes to make a plain draught excluder, and if you use interesting fabric it doesn't have to look boring. Or you can turn it into a ECOutletsnake, like the fab vintage ones above.

What you need

A rectangular piece of material, at least 40cm wide and just longer than the width of the door (or you can chop a leg off an old pair of trousers and start at step five)
Sewing machine or needle and thread or easy iron-on SewFree
An old pair of tights
Stuffing (fine gravel, beanbag balls, rice, lentils, etc - I used rice)
Pins
Iron and ironing board
Buttons and ribbon, optional

What to do

1. Check your piece of material - it needs to be at least 4cm longer than the width of your door.

2. Iron the material.

3. Fold it in half lengthways, so that the pattern is on the inside, and pin it together.

4. Stitch up the length of the rectangle, as close to where the two edges meet as possible. You can use SewFree and an iron if you don't want to sew - just follow the instructions on the pack.

5. Turn the material inside out so you have a long cylinder that is open at both ends, with the prettier side of the fabric on the outside. Stitch together one of the ends - I did this with a row of stitches about 3cm in. You can fold the material over to stitch it.

6. Cut a leg off your tights and fill it with stuffing. When it's full and just a little bit smaller than your draught excluder, tie a knot in the end.

7. Insert the stuffed tight into your draught excluder and stitch the other end together.

8. Optional: To make a snake draught excluder, simply sew on two buttons for eyes and a piece of red ribbon (with a V-shaped piece cut out of one end) for a forked tongue.

Have you made anything to help you cope with the cold snap? Tell us about your efforts - hats, gloves, scarves, earmuffs, hot water bottle covers - in the comments section below.