Preparing for Winter

nicki_2

Since we had awful weather yesterday I dug out my sewing machine and got on with some jobs I've been meaning to do since last summer :

Still to do:

• Grit/salt for the yard when its icy
• Remove all the sticky tape around the door/window from last years glazing film
• Replace glazing film on the back of the front door.
• Repair tears in backdoor film
• Make Draft excluders - just one more to make
  
• [STRIKE]Buy curtains for front & back doors[/STRIKE] Don't need to
• [STRIKE]Make inbetween room curtains[/STRIKE]
• Recover the dining chairs (not strictly winter prep, but its going to be the same material as the curtains )
• Rug for the dining area of the livingroom

Wardrobe wise :

• DD Fleecy PJ's, boots
• Me PJ bottoms & boots

I was going to buy curtains but I discovered that the material for the inbetween room curtains was big enough to make 3 curtains so I made one for the front door, back door and one for between the kitchen & livingroom (I have enough left to make another draftexcluder & cover the chairs ) I noticed the difference last night. Now I just need to do something about my hatch between the kitchen & livingroom - its completely open, provide great light, but awful chill/draft since there's no heating in the kitchen!

maryb

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

In all my preparations for the winter this has just reminded me what is one of the worse bits to me. For some maddening reason I always wake up at least once, often more, needing the loo in the night. :mad:
Nothing worse than being warm and snug and then waking up in the horrible, chilly dark and stumbling around without the light (don't wanna wake anyone :rolleyes: ) falling over the assault course of slippers etc left willy nilly on the floor, only to have to sit on a fridgy seat in the loo.

How does one prepare for that little joy to come?!

When the babes were small and I had to get up for night feeds but didn't want to wake DH I had a bicycle headlamp by the bed. It casts a wider beam than a torch but at the same time it's not too bright so you can see where you are going more easily

maryb

I wanted to make a snugglie/slanket but couldn't find fleece cheap enough on the fabric stall at the market. When I was in Primark today they had lots of fleece throws which measure 50 inches by 60 inches. I bought three to make two snugglies - I will cut the sleeves for both the snugglies from one of the throws and then I won't have to cut any off the other two. 60 inches is just long enough especially for the DDs who are not that tall and 50 inches wide should be plenty wide enough. It's the extra warm fluffy fleece so should be snuggly enough

I was thinking I might get some cheap acrylic aran wool and big needles and knit a really long (about 100 inches) garter stitch strip to sew along the top so it makes a scarf to wrap round and keep the snugglie from falling off at the top. What do people think? Or would it be a pain not being able to get out of it quickly?

BigMummaF

shelley_crow wrote: »

Might throw in my two pennyworth -
Me too
Make sure your gas fires are serviced yearly and don't block up the vents.
For the sake of a draft it is really not worth the risk. Carbon Monoxide alarms are cheap enough from B&Q, at least with fires you can smell that something is wrong. My mom was very very lucky, you and your family might not be.

When the gas board did a review on mum's place, they put the vent around 50cm up from the floor, in a corner of the lounge. Being an elderly lady, she doesn't really move around too much & was complaining about the draught across her feet & kept covering the vent with cardboard.
Last year I had a :idea: & we made up a little wooden frame that stands about a metre high, modelled on an old-fashioned 'flat' fire guard...the ones that had beautiful pictures on the front? Anyhooz, I bought a half decent jumper in a colour to compliment her decor from a charity shop & that slides over the frame & looks--for all intent & purpose--like a little clothes horse should anyone call in to see her. It's surprising how much of the cold air is stopped by standing it around a metre from the air vent, so everyone is happy as she can easily pop the sweater in the wash if it should get a bit dusty & I don't have to worry about the CO.

jackieglasgow

rigsby1967 wrote: »

I lost my last post so will try again.

Thanks to you lot on here i have decided to pull my finger out and have done lots of the things mentioned.

There is 1 thing i haven't seen mentioned (not that i have gone through the WHOLE thread ).

Anyway making this suggestion may get me shot but i covered up the living room air vent as last year there was such bad wind that the heavy curtains were blowing about :eek:.

rigs

I won't shoot you, and I know you know, but DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS? And yes, I know I'm shouting, and please don't be offended but do you know how many people die in this country because their rooms are poorly ventilated whilst using Gas or Solid Fuel heating?

If you must do that, and I can understand the temptation, please do not use appliances with a flame in the same room at the same time.

This terrifies me, for reasons which I cannot go into.

jackieglasgow

Sorry, I see someone else beat me to it, but I just couldn't hold my tongue, it's just too important.

buxtonrabbitgreen

Where do you all live it has been lovely and warm here in the Midlands today. I haven't even been and got my cardigan yet this evening and the windows are still open.

mama67

foxgloves wrote: »

I've decided to read the gas & electricity meters every Sunday night to log how much we've been using. That way, if it really leaps up, I can have a think about anything we've been doing differently and get onto it. Think doing this will also make us more conscious that there's a financial cost to having a snug warm house 24 hours a day and will encourage us to keep up with the extra layers, rugs, hotwater bottles, etc. Snuggley rugs all washed, aired & ready!

I do this every Monday morning after the Economy 7 has switched off.

It is surprising how if you run something in the daytimew which is usually run overnight how it soon adds up.

Confuzzled

jcr16 wrote: »

i can't find it anywhere. i've got a feeling as it was in a blackbag it got sent to the chairty when i sorted out all the old spare bedding and curtains which also was in black bag. so i am thinking i can maybe cut a single duvet in half for the cot bed.

Any ideas if this is possible ?

how old is your son? if he's old enough to easily turn over in his sleep if something was up against his face AND if you sew up the loose fabric at the cut ends i don't see why this would be a problem but i'm not an expert

Olliebeak

jcr16 wrote: »

.......so i am thinking i can maybe cut a single duvet in half for the cot bed.

Any ideas if this is possible ?

Would it be worth your while buying a cheapie single duvet for this, cut it in half and then stitch the corners (could attach velcro) together to make a thicker duvet?

I would do the stitching BEFORE cutting to make things a bit easier.

Work out where you want to cut and mark the line with a row of tacking/basting stitches.

Do two rows of stitching with the machine - one each side of the tacking/basting thread.

Cut between the two rows of stitching.

Good Luck. Ollie xxx

This is the cot duvet that I bought from Ikea - I thought it was a good price but not sure if it would fit your cot-bed.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60028510