Needle Felted Fairytale Castle Tutorial

One thing led to another, in reverse order…I wanted to make doll dresses, so I made a dress and then a princess to wear the pretty, pink dress, I made the gallant knight so the princess would have someone to do the chores around the castle, and I made the castle so the princess and her handy knight would have a place to live! After the castle and it’s inhabitants were done, I figured I’d needle felt a piece of realestate to put the caste, so I needle felted this forest scenery and a few trees-it all started with a pretty dress… This castle tutorial is an intermediate level – it’s fun to do! A pipe-cleaner doll tutorial is coming soon….

 

Needle felted Fairytale Castle

Materials:
Dark grey wool batt-outside of castle, bottom of towers-approximately 275 grams
Light grey wool batt-inside of castle, stone decoration-approximately 275 grams
Orange wool- roofs-approximately.75grams
Brown wool-outside of door-approximately .2grams
Sponge-felting surface
Felting needles-medium gauge
Felting needle handles-for 4 needles and for 10 needles
String 12″ long
Scraps of different colored felt for flags
Sewing needle
Grey thread
Fabric glue
chalk

Note/Layers: The castle parts are made of 3 layers of wool, 1) an outside layer (dark grey wool with light grey stones), 2) a center layer (poly fiber-fill or core wool) and 3) an inside layer. Together, the three layers should be .5″ to .75″ thick once finished to make the walls of the castle stand firmly. THE KEY TO THIS PROJECT IS MAKING THE WALLS OF THE CASTLE THICK/STABLE! After the pieces are flat felted, you will roll them into the towers and main gate, sew a bottom on each and glue a roof to each tower (I didn’t glue the roof of the tall tower).

• Dimensions: Follow the dimensions to layout the strips of wool for the castle pieces.
• The main castle wall is 31″ long x 8.5″ tall
  The main castle wall bottom is 9″ in diameter
• The two side towers are 13″ long x 9″ tall
  The side tower bottoms are 4″ in diameter
• The main tower is 15″ tall x 9.5″ wide
  The main tower bottom is 4.5″ in diameter
• The 3 tower roofs are 6″ in diameter
• The bottom layer for the towers and main gate: 20″ x 20″ (The bottoms for all the towers and the gate can be cut out of this piece. The tall tower and the gate share a bottom.)  castle shapes diagram

Note: The basic shapes of the castle should be laid out to the above dimensions. For this project it is easier to layout wool batts because they come in rolls that are almost like fabric. If you are not using wool batts, lay out the wool pieces as you would lay out wool for wet felting: lay the first layer all in one direction and the second layer should be laid down in the opposite direction etc.

Note/Flat Felting: When all the layers of wool are laid out flat on the sponge felting surface, use a large handle (holding 10-20 needles is preferable) to felt the wool, felt first on one side, turn over and felt on the other side. Peel the wool off the sponge and keep turning the wool so it doesn’t stick to the sponge. Add the light grey wool for the stone details last.