Castle Playroom Curtain: Making an Entrance

Hear ye, hear ye — For admittance to the castle, knock three times if you’re a prince! See how we made the castle playroom curtain complete with a door, window and exposed stone patch.

Children believe in magic, fairy-tales and happily-ever-afters. It all begins when they wander through a door into a world of make believe. I held tight to that premise as we created the castle playroom under the stairs for our boys. Thus far in this series, we’ve painted the castle and the woodlands then we added wall-to-wall flooring. Next we needed to make an entrance. I wanted the castle to feel like a safe hideout or a clubhouse. Rather than building a permanent wall or door, I chose to use fabric and make a castle playroom curtain.

Before we go any further, I should say I am NOT a seamstress. I can hardly even call myself a beginner. I’d only had my sewing machine for a few months when I made the castle playroom curtain. Thankfully my mother is very good at sewing and was willing to sit alongside and advise me while I worked on this project. If it hadn’t been for her, I’m not sure I would have gotten through it.

I learned about sewing in my home economics class many, many moons ago, but this was the first actual project I attempted with a sewing machine in years. As such, you’ll see uneven stitches and hems that aren’t so pretty. Others who can sew would do a far better job, but as my mom kept reminding me “it’s only a playroom.” What I created for the castle playroom curtain achieves the clubhouse look and makes my boys happy, so what more could I ask?

Making the Castle Playroom Curtain

What you need:

• A sewing machine
• gray material with a stone like appearance
• brown material (I found some great material that looked like wood grain at JoAnn Fabrics)
• light gray material
• two different gray stone like materials for the rocks
• black felt
• plastic vinyl
• Gray, black and brown thread
• Regular sewing machine needles
• Heavy duty sewing machine needles
• A tension rod (Note: I used the 26-inch by 42-inch InterDesign Forma Shower Curtain Tension Rod in brushed stainless steel. It was easy to tighten and secure in place. After more than 9 months of active use, it hasn’t fallen or been pulled down.

Instructions:

I didn’t know I’d be blogging when I started the castle playroom curtain, so unfortunately I don’t have great step-by-step instructions and photos for this tutorial. I’ll just share photos of some of the features along with some helpful tips. You can then use your own imagination (and better sewing skills) when you make one for your children’s castle playroom.

1. Pocket loop to hang the curtain: One of the first things I did was fold the material in half and sew a pocket loop near the fold. I left just enough room so the curtain could easily slide along the tension rod when it was hung.

2. The door: I wanted a real door in the curtain for the children to go through to enter the castle. I didn’t want them to have to go around or move the curtain. Initially I thought about making a hinged door that could swing open and close, but I wasn’t sure how they’d keep the door closed when they were in the castle playroom. Instead we chose to make a large slit up the center of the castle playroom curtain so the children go through like they would go into a tent.

The brown door is sewn over top of the gray castle wall fabric. There’s a slight overlap so you don’t see the gap in the curtain when the door is closed. The door knob is just a black felt circle which I sewed on the brown door before I sewed the door on to the rest of the castle playroom curtain.

From inside the castle, you actually don’t see the brown door at all, just the gray “stone” wall.

3. The exposed stone patch: After painting exposed stone patches on the interior of the castle, I thought it would be fun to also have one on the castle playroom curtain too. It was challenging for a sewing novice like me. I cut two stone shapes out of gray stone-like fabric and sewed them on a solid light gray fabric to be the grout. I sewed the whole patch on the front of the castle curtain before I sewed the curtain closed so I could hide my stitches between the two layers of curtain fabric.

4. The window: Somehow I got it in my head I wanted a window so the boys could peer out to see who’s knocking on their castle door. Within moments of cutting the hole for the window, I’d wished I never started! This is where heavy duty sewing machine needles are a must. I used thick vinyl to be the “glass” in the window and black felt to be the window frame. I made the window arched to mimic the mirror “window” we hung on the back wall of the playroom.

I sewed the vinyl onto the black window frame first. Then I sewed the window to the front of the castle playroom curtain to secure it in place. From inside the castle the back of the window is very ugly with stitches. On the upper right, you can also see where I accidentally tore and repaired the fabric after the thread got bound up in my machine.

Creating this window was the most frustrating part of the entire castle playroom project for me. I was angry with myself for even attempting it. Yet the very first time I showed the castle playroom curtain to our son, who was three years old at the time, he ran in through the opening in the door, and then immediately peeked out the window at me with the BIGGEST grin on his face. Phew. It was worth my late nights and frustrations after all.

I know I didn’t cover every detail behind the making of the castle playroom curtain. If you have any questions about how I approached the castle playroom curtain, please comment below or contact us.

Next in this series, we’ll share how we added shields and other decor to create a medieval appearance in the castle. If you’d like, you can subscribe to Kenarry to follow along with our castle playroom series over the next few weeks. You’ll get an e-mail in your in-box every time we publish a new castle playroom post, so you don’t miss a thing.

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Previous in the Castle Playroom Series on Kenarry: Ideas for the Home

Castle Playroom: How to Create A Magical Hideaway for Kids

Castle Playroom Inspiration: A Whimsical Garden Playroom

Castle Playroom Walls: How to Paint Faux Stone Walls

Castle Playroom Woodland Mural: Painting Animals and Trees

Castle Playroom Floors: Creating Space with Carpet Squares

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This blog post contains affiliate links. All opinions expressed are our own, derived from our personal experience.

Filed Under: Kid Ideas Tagged With: Castle Playroom, DIY, Home Decor, Kid Ideas, Playroom Under Stairs