Doors make parents anxious. They can move and they can slam. They can wake, startle or even hurt babies. They are basically wooden monsters sent to Earth to rob you of your sanity and sleep. The fear is real. The struggle is real.

But rather than taking all doors off their hinges, stacking them in some dark corner and claiming that "an open household is a happy household" when visitors ask why there's nothing separating the toilet from the hallway, solve your problems with a cute DIY fabric door silencer.

Not only is this clever contraption easy to make — just a snip or two, a quick sew and a bit of stuffing and you're done — but it keeps the doors behaving while looking adorable. Win-win.

Supplies:

• Door silencer template
• Pencil
• Fabric
• Elastic, cut into two 13-centimetre pieces
• Fabric scissors
• Pinking shears
• Pins
• Batting
• Sewing machine

Directions:

1. Cut the fabric

Print and cut out the door silencer template. Place two pieces of fabric with the right (pretty) sides touching, trace the template onto them and cut it out.

2. Mark the seam allowance

Pin the two pieces of fabric together. Trim the seam allowance on the paper template and trace it onto the fabric .

3. Pin the elastic

Pin the elastic to the right side of one of the pieces of fabric, facing the loops into the centre and the ends on the points marked on the template.

4. Pin the material

Pin the second piece of material, with the right side facing in, to the top and reposition the pins so that the elastic is sandwiched between the two pieces of material.

5. Sew

Sew along the traced line, leaving a gap as indicated on the template.

6. Trim

Using the pinking shears, trim the seam allowance (leave the material near the gap untouched).

7. Turn inside-out

Using the opening you left in the side, pull the material until you turn the door silencer inside-out.

8. Stuff with batting

Use a bit of batting to evenly stuff the door silencer. Don't get too excited, though; you're not making a cushion — you just want there to be enough to pad the door.

9. Sew and use

Tuck in the opening so that it comes in line with the edge; then sew around the whole door silencer. That's it — now it's ready to use.

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