How to Make a Brick Wall: Platform 9-3/4

If you're planning a low-budget, quick solution, many people choose the plastic sheet with a brick print found HERE on Amazon.  You can hang it and cut a slit up the middle for kids to walk through, easy-peasy.

However, if you know you will be decorating for Harry Potter more than once (Little Tomato wants to decorate Harry Potter for Halloween), a more durable solution is a good idea. 

I added a magnetic closure to my brick wall, so it will close back up after each person passes through it. It definitely added time to the project, but I felt it was really worth it in the end.

Brick Wall

Supplies Needed:

IF SEWING PANELS:

Sewing Machine & Sewing Supplies (scissors, thread, cutting mat, etc.)

Canvas Dropcloth

* I purchased my canvas drop cloth at a home improvement store. Depending on the size, these cost around $10-$15. I purchased a 6' x 9' size, as my opening was larger than 4'-0" so I needed a larger size. You can find these on Amazon as well. (6' x 9' is HERE).

Red & Black Paint 

*Black is optional, used minimally to darken the red for a second coat, to give the bricks a more realistic look.

Painter's Tape

* HIGHLY recommend 1/2" wide 

Ruler / Measuring Tape

Sponge (Builder's)

Optional: Sponge (Natural)

Tension Rod

Optional: Magnetic Mesh Screen

* I purchased mine at a home improvement store on sale for $8, but it can also be found HERE.

Instructions:

For the sewing portion of this tutorial, you are essentially making rod-pocket window panels. If you can find perfectly sized window panels for your opening, that would definitely save you the sewing and you can skip right to the painting part. I opted to sew the drop cloth as it was a cost savings and I could perfectly size the panel to my opening.

To make your rod-pocket panels, see the rod-pocket tutorial HERE for in-depth instructions on the sewing steps. This site gives way better instructions than I would be able to articulate from reverse-engineering my process. 

Magnetic Closure:

I allotted an additional 3" of fabric in the width of my panels to sew the magnetic screen into the back of the panels. You can either choose to keep the full mesh screen in the back of the panel, or you can cut out the strip with the magnets and sew just this piece into your panels. I kept the full panels. It may not look as nice from the backside, but I was worried that I would not be able to align the magnets properly between the two panels if I didn't keep the full panels intact. 

Painting the Brick Wall:

The first part of painting the brick wall is a LOT of measuring and taping. 

I had 1" painter's tape on-hand, so used this and cut it in half. It was a royal pain. If you're buying tape for this, I would HIGHLY recommend buying the 1/2" wide tape and save yourself cutting.

My panels had magnets that held them together, perfectly aligned where I wanted them to be aligned. If you did not add magnets, make sure you either pin your panels together or tape your panels together on the backside to keep them from shifting when you start taping. When your panels hang, you want the bricks to align between the two panels. 

I made my bricks 4" x 8" in size. To do this, I measured 4" in height with a ruler and then laid a layer of painter's tape at the 4" line. 

Repeat up the entire length of your panels.

Painter's Tape...

Once I had the horizontal rows, I began measuring 8" across and adding the vertical lines.

8" across : Add Tape, Repeat.

I offset every other row to give it the brick pattern.

Once your taping is complete, get out your sponge and paint! 

Dip your sponge in the paint, but don't let the paint get too thick. You want to be able to see the pores, not get globby areas of paint. And don't worry about being a perfectionist. You may see areas that appear too thick and others that are too thin, but once it dries and you take a step back (especially once the tape is removed), it will be much more natural looking than you think.

Essentially, by covering these lines with painter's tape, your natural fabric color will stay clean. The canvas color was perfect as a mortar color. 

Painting Bricks

We did an initial coat of red paint, but found it to be rather flat (and some of the paint got so thick in areas, it didn't look quite 'spongy' enough. So we found a cheap natural sponge at Hobby Lobby that had a lot more natural open pores and did a light second coat, adding some black to the red paint for a darker red and a light third coat adding some white. Add VERY LITTLE white, if you want to do this. Red can go pink VERY fast.

* Painter's Tip: With a canvas this size (literally, ha!), I would highly recommend that you start at the top and work your way to the bottom. Don't paint yourself into a corner, or start with edges and then have to lean over wet paint to reach the middle. 

Once all your layers of paint are dried, you can peel off the painter's tape. 

Brick Wall