Our second challenge for Iron Craft was very functional, create a draft dodger or snake to keep the cold air (or hot air depending where you live) out. My sweet, little house is 80 years old this year so you know it has a few drafty corners. I decided the place that could most use the drafts stopped right now is the window in my craft room. I also decided to make my dodger a little more of a decorative piece. 
So, I turned it into a little vignette featuring knit mushrooms & a plush gnome. I wasn’t sure if the decorations would stand like I wanted but it ended up working perfectly. It makes me smile every time I look at it. Make sure to go look at all the other great Iron Crafter Draft Dodgers!
Gnome & Mushroom Draft Dodger How-To
Supplies for Dodger:
fabric (must be at least 1-inch longer than the window sill you will use the dodger in & 7 inches wide)
matching thread
sewing needle
iron
beans, rice or other heavy stuffing (my 26 inch dodger used 2 lbs of pinto beans)
Cut the fabric into a rectangle that is 7 inches wide and 1 inch longer than the window sill it will be used in. Fold in half width-wise with the right sides together. Sew the long seam & one short seam using a 1/2-inch seam allowance.
Press the long seam open. Press the edges of the open short side 1/2 inch in towards the wrong side. Turn the dodger right side out. Stuff with filling of choice. I left mine slightly under-stuffed so it would easily mold around the latch on the window. If it was stuffed firm it would just sit on top of it.
Blind stitch the open seam shut. You now have a basic draft dodger.
Now it’s time to embellish your dodger to make it into an even more decorative piece.
My idea for this little scene came about while I was cleaning my craft room out to make room for new furniture. I was going through a bag of items I had knit for a knitting store window & came across these cute little knit mushrooms. They were the perfect size & a cinch to make. (If you don’t knit you could easily make little plush mushrooms from felt.)
Supplies for Knit Mushroom:
small amount of cotton dishcloth yarn in natural ecru color
4 size 3 double pointed needles
stitch marker
tapestry needle
Cap:
Cast on 6 stitches
Divide evenly between 3 needles & join together being careful not to twist. Place a stitch marker between the last & first stitch.
Row 1: kfb even stitch (12 stitches)
Row 2: k
Row 3: k1, kfb until the end of the round
Row 4: k
Row 5: k2, kfb until the end of the round
Row 6: bind off
Use cast on tail to close the little hole in the middle of the cap. The cap should roll in on the knit side, this is the inside of the cap. Weave in the cast-on tail.
Stem:
Cast on 4 stitches
Work an i-cord for 1-inch. Bind off.
Assembly:
Use either the bind-off tail or cast-on tail to sew the stem on to the inside of the cap.
Sew the mushrooms on top of the dodger using a whip stitch.
I added a gnome to my dodger because I love little garden gnomes & have a lot of them in my craft room. You could make any plushie you like to add to this but keep it on the smaller side so it’ll stand up easily, my gnome is about 3 1/2 inches tall. (I almost did a squirrel using the method below instead of a gnome which, I think would have been sweet too.)
Supplies for Gnome:
red felt
scissors
grey roving
needle felting supplies or glue
white bead
thread to match felt
sewing needle
stuffing
Find a gnome image you like the silhouette of online & print it out. Cut it out & to use as a pattern. Cut two of that gnome pattern out of the felt. Needle felt or glue the grey roving on one of the gnome pieces for a beard. Trim the beard to your desired shape. Sew the bead on just above the beard for a nose. Sew the two gnome shapes wrong sides together using a whip stitch. Stuff as you go along.
Whip stitch the gnomes feet to the top of the dodger like you did the mushrooms.
Place in window & enjoy your cute, draft-free environment.
That is way too cute. What a great idea.
This is adorable! I love those mushrooms 🙂
LOVE it! Oh, AND the new blog design.
so so cute! I love the mushrooms! From the BBQ window!
Kat – this is a really great idea! It's so adorable and I love how it looks against the window!
Very clever Kat. I think it is so perfect!
That little gnome looks toasty-warm, perched on his draft dodger and silhouetted against the backdrop of snowfall.
Congrats on your creation being featured on CRAFT!
Perfection.
oh my gosh, that is AWESOME! Gnomes and mushrooms….perfect!
I love the gnome, very very cute. Been looking at some ideas after last winter for door excluders that are not rolled up, old rugs (although they work well) and i think i might have a go at this, lovely.
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