How to Join Two Pieces of Plastic Canvas

Plastic canvas can be used for cross stitch as well as other crafty purposes, but it is a little different to work with compared to regular cross-stitch fabric.

One of the cool things about it is that you can shape objects with it, which can be decorated with stitching. But this can be a little tricky when you need to join pieces of plastic canvas but you want the stitching to be continuous on the finished object.

Sewing with Bobbin and Fred has a great tutorial for joining pieces of plastic canvas, which explores how to join pieces at a right angle, to make a flat bag or two-sided object and to continue a piece of canvas. It’s really handy to have these skills in your repertoire in case you need them for different projects.

[Photo: Sewing with Bobbin and Fred.]

Next Pattern:

Cross Stitching on Plastic Canvas

Summertime is beach time, which also means it’s seagull time. Let’s stitch up some of our favorite scavengers of the shore.

This little seagull stamp from Easy Patterns Only is super cute and fun to stitch for any lover of the sea. At 23 by 27 stitches, it uses six colors and measures 1.64 by 1.93 inches or 4.17 by 4.9 cm on 14 count fabric.

I also love this silly little seagull from Stitchissimo. This one is 24 by 35 stitches and uses five colors. On 14 count fabric it’s just 1.7 by 2.5 inches, or 4.4 by 6.4 cm.

Go for a more traditional flying gull project with this one from Silverberry Designs. It uses six colors and measures 2.21 by 4.43 inches (5.6 by 11.3 cm) on 14 count fabric with a stitch count of 31 by 62.

Use seagulls to share your love with this pattern from Yellow Birdie Stitches. Share it with the person you love more than a seagull loves chips (you could change it to fries pretty easily if you prefer the American term). It’s 63 by 60 stitches and uses 10 colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to 4.5 by 4.25 inches, or 11.4 by 10.9 cm.

And speaking of fries, Happy Sloth Patterns offers this seagull with a face full of chips. It uses nine colors and is 60 by 49 stitches. On 14 count fabric that’s 4.3 by 3.5 inches, or 10.9 by 8.9 cm, which fits nicely in a six-inch hoop.

Or stitch up some carousing gulls with this pattern from Non Stop Stitch. It looks like these seagulls are about to get into a fight! The design uses 22 colors and blends and measures 145 by 75 stitches. That’s 8.94 by 4.31 inches, or 22.7 by 10.95 cm on 14 count fabric.

For a more stately seagull sailor, check out this pattern from Mansarda Cross Stitch. This one combines cross stitch and an embroidered background, though you could leave that out if you don’t do embroidery. It calls for 20 colors and one blend, and measures 83 by 88 stitches. The sample was worked on 56 count linen 1 over 2, but you can use regular Aida fabric if you prefer.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?