It’s hard to avoid in the news at the moment that the winter is looking bleak and possibly very cold. So, we thought it would be a good idea to collate as many ways as possible to keep both yourself and your home cosy. We think these relatively simple five home furnishing projects are fairly guaranteed to keep you a bit warmer this winter.
Cosy Brushed Cotton Pillow Cases
Let’s start with something quick and easy. Sewing pillow cases is so simple that you will wonder why you never did it before. All it takes is three rectangles of fabric and you are off! To make sure you get the perfect size you can even use a pillow case you have already to make a pattern. But to make your bed even more inviting to snuggle up into, why not use a brushed cotton or a flannel fabric. Both fabrics are still 100% cotton so make great bedding, but their soft texture means they are a great way of keeping warm. Brushed Cotton (unlike other cottons such as poplin) has raised fluffy fibres which trap air particles in between creating great insulation and making the fabric super cosy and warm. Although usually used for dressmaking, they would make excellent pillow cases too and our current range has a great variety of patterns to match any duvet or bedroom.
Lining your Curtains and Blinds
Depending on the size of your curtains or blinds this project might be slightly more difficult, but still an important way to keep as much heat in your home as possible. According to the US Department of Energy simply by closing your curtains at night you can help to reduce the loss of heat by 17%. If the curtains are insulated with thermal lining this increases to 25%. So, it could be an extremely cost-effective use of your time to add thermal curtain lining to your curtains before the colder weather sets in.
We stock two types of curtain lining, the best one for keeping heat in is our Blackout Lining which has thermal properties due to the acrylic backing. To maximise the heat retention, it might be an idea while you are adding thermal lining to think about adding in a curtain interlining too. These feel fleecy and go in between the lining and the curtain fabric to create a thick barrier between the window and the room.
For all our curtain linings check out our Furnishings Basics Collection.
https://www.fabricsgalore.co.uk/collections/basics-furnishing-fabric
Draft Excluders
We are big fans of draft excluders at Fabrics Galore for many reasons; they are a great way to use up scraps, they can help reduce heat loss and they are pretty simple to make. What is not to love? Did you know that by using draft excluders on doors and windows you can reduce heat loss by as much as 10-20%. There are various materials you can use to fill a draft excluder, but our favourite is a polyester wadding as you simply pull it through to fill the draft excluder. Another top tip is to make the long sausage shape cushion the size you need with a basic fabric like a calico, and then make a fancier cover with a fabric to compliment the room. This means you can wash the cover every now and again to keep it looking lovely.
As draft excluders go on the floor and have to put up with a fair amount of wear and tear, we suggest making them from a soft furnishing weight fabric, and if it’s for a front or back door even an upholstery cloth to make it as durable as possible.
Our Herringbone or Velvet Upholstery cloths would make a very chic draft excluder indeed.
Door Curtains
Another great way to reduce drafts if you aren’t sure a draft excluder will cut it, is a door curtain. They work especially well on front or back doors which is usually where the most cold penetrates. These are, in some ways, simpler than window curtains as you can usually do it from just one width of fabric so you don’t have to worry about pattern matching. This is because many soft furnishing fabrics are 137cm wide whereas many doors are only 96-100cm wide.
To make sure your door curtain blocks as much cold air as possible we would recommend using interlining and lining to create a thick heavy curtain. Although our thermal lining is called Black Out lining it would still be a good idea to use it on a door curtain as its thermal qualities will help keep the cold out and the warm in.
Our Curtain Collection is packed with so many great fabrics for a door curtain it might be hard to choose…
https://www.fabricsgalore.co.uk/collections/curtain-fabric
Quick Warm Blankets and Throws
As the cold weather creeps in we will be spending more time on the sofa with a cup of tea watching TV (well Team FG will be for sure), and while that seems like a great idea, you really need a blanket for your knees while you watch. There are many options for fabric to make a quick blanket from. You can make it from two layers of cotton (maybe a brushed cotton for that lovely texture) and a layer of polyester wadding in-between, this is really simple and allows you to get the most out of a print you love. Or you could just bind a piece of fleece or bouclé for something super quick. Or you can combine the two and back a piece of cotton with fleece, so you get the soft backing with the fleece and enjoy a great print on the other side.
We have so many fleece fabric colours that you can definitely find a co-ordinating colour for any cotton you love…
If you are wanting to elevate this quick make you could hand quilt some of it, which will give your hands something to do whilst you watch the telly. This works especially well if you choose a striped backing, so you have lines to follow, another top FG Tip.
Browse our cosy winter fabrics online
We hope these home furnishing projects will help keep you and your home a little warmer this winter so why not browse our fabulous cosy fabrics like our brushed cottons, fleece and curtain lining fabrics why we are still enjoying the summer sun. You’ll be so pleased when that first cold snap arrives!
