Nightmare Tree Barricade

Hey ghouls and creeps! In our house when we put the tree up for Christmas, our girl cat Zinnia, attacks the lower branches like a maniac. This fabric barricade is one line of defense we use to deter her from attacking and climbing the Christmas tree. “Is it effective?” you ask, we’ve found it to work pretty well. Your results may vary though, depending on how persistent your kitty is. This year to go along with the Tim Burton theme, I chose to incorporate a silhouette of Nightmare Before Christmas’ very own Halloween Town. As the focal point, spiral hill sits front and center. You can also see Dr. Finkelstein’s laboratory/home, the graveyard, Jack’s home, and town hall in Burton’s signature black and white palette.

Finished dimensions are: H: 24″, L: 61″

The Nightmare Tree Barricade project is overall pretty easy. Only straight seams are needed, and potentially some tedious hand cutting if you don’t own a die cutter.

Step 1: Cutting Applique: Begin by cutting your black Kona piece in half into two pieces measuring 12″X 42″. Sew the pieces together at one of the short sides making one large strip measuring 12″X 84″. Pro tip: Iron Heat n’ Bond to the backside of your Kona strip prior to cutting out applique. Use the JPG file below to use in Cricut Design Space. Or print the PDF file to use as template to trace and cut manually.

Cut white muslin width down to 70”. This will give you a piece measuring 30”X 70”. Cut remnant in half to produce two 30”X 10” pieces.

Step 2: Barricade Assembly: Place drapery buckram along top edge of barricade. Fold buckram in half and lay on non-fusible side of ultra-firm interfacing. Baste buckram in place 1/4” from the edge.

Place 30”X70” piece of muslin on top of buckram, lining up top edges. Make sure to center muslin so that there is 7” of excess on both ends of the ultra-firm interfacing. Sew muslin to buckram and interfacing with a stitch line 1/2” from the edge.

Fold buckram and muslin up extending the width of interfacing and press. Wrap muslin around the edge of the buckram to the fusible side of the interfacing and press again.

Fuse muslin to the ultra-firm interfacing being careful to not press wrinkles into the muslin. Also be mindful to keep an even 7” of excess material at both ends of the barricade. There should be about 4” of extra muslin at the bottom of the barricade as well. Continue to gradually fuse the entire length of the ultra-firm interfacing.

Step 3: Applying Applique: Carefully peel Heat n’ Bond paper off the back of your applique.

Take both the 30”X 10” pieces, and seam them together with a 1/4” seam allowance making one strip measuring 60”X 10”. Lay the right side of the strip against the right side of the applique and sew together 1/4” from the bottom edge.

Lay applique on top of barricade, fusible side down against the right side of the barricade. Line up bottom raw edges of the barricade muslin and applique muslin. This should place the applique’s bottom approximately 6” from the bottom edge of the interfacing. Fuse the applique in place, lifting and setting the iron directly on top.

Fuse the full length of the applique, until you reach the ends. Fold ends of the the applique and the muslin band under a 1/2” and edge stitch along fold.

Step 4: Finishing Barricade: To finish the bottom of the barricade, cut both layers of muslin so only a 1” extension remains. Fold the extension a 1/2” twice around the bottom of the interfacing edge. Edge stitch along fold, include the 7” extensions on the sides of the interfacing

Now that the top and bottom of the barricade is finished, now it’s time to finish the sides! Take a pen, chalk or disappearing ink pen and mark a 1/2” in from the side edges of the interfacing. Do the same with the muslin extensions on both sides. Make your 1/2’ line on the right side of the material so its visible when you go to fold it.

Fold muslin along line, and then line up fold with the line drawn on the interfacing. Pin fold in place, and edge stitch along fold. Repeat these steps with the other side of the barricade. Press sides, and you’re finished! You may choose to add eyelets or buttonholes to the side flaps to use command hooks or to lace your barricade in place. We ultimately tacked ours to the wall behind our Christmas tree!

You’re finished! I hope you find the kitty barricade as effective as we have found it to be! Other uses for the templates from this project could include throw pillows or wall decor. Just select your favorite buildings from the template to use for the pillow fronts, or use the template as painting stencil. Let me know in the comments below how you are making your Christmas a little more Creepmas?

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Ready for your next project? Here are some tutorials on the blog I think you’ll like! Frame Flip tutorial: https://britnijade.com/frame-flip/, Macrame Wall Hanging: https://britnijade.com/macrame-wall-hanging-w-bones/, or the Spider Web Macrame: https://britnijade.com/spider-web-macrame/. Enjoy!