Plastic canvas needlepoint

What plastic canvas is

Plastic canvas is a sheet of molded plastic with evenly spaced square holes, made to stand in for needlepoint canvas.

It is molded, not woven, so it has no threads, only plastic bars between the holes. It does not fray, and it holds its shape better than woven canvas. That suits three-dimensional pieces: tissue box covers, ornaments, small containers.

It is sold as flat sheets and as ready-cut shapes such as circles and hearts. Clear and white are usual. Colored sheets exist for pieces where the plastic might show.

Which count to buy

The count is the number of holes to the inch. A lower count means bigger holes and a bolder look.

Begin with 7 count. There is also a coarser 5 count, stitched with two strands of worsted weight yarn together; the size 16 needle used for 7 count will do for it.

The size 24 needle and size 5 pearl cotton for 14 count are both finer than the size 20 needle and size 3 pearl cotton that the needle size guide and the thread guide give for 14 mesh woven canvas.

Other yarns are used too: bulky weight, which is thicker than worsted, on 7 count; worsted weight on 10 count; and sport weight yarn or embroidery floss on 14 count. The needle in each row of the table is the one for the yarn in that row. With another yarn, or with strands of floss together, see before you begin that the yarn threads through the eye without a struggle and that the threaded needle still passes through the holes, because the plastic does not give. If not, try another size of needle.

Whatever the count, the yarn should hide the plastic completely. Thin yarn on coarse canvas lets the grid show, and thick yarn on fine canvas leaves gaps between the stitches. Embroidery floss can be used 12 strands together on 10 count and 6 strands on 14 count. Stitch a small patch before you buy yarn for a whole piece. If the plastic shows, use more strands: on 10 mesh woven canvas the thread guide gives two strands of size 3 pearl cotton together.

Which stitches suit it

• Continental stitch is the main one: a small diagonal stitch over one crossing, used to fill areas with color. On plastic canvas, solid continental stitching makes a piece more durable and keeps warping of the plastic to a minimum. Woven canvas is another matter: there a large area of continental stitch can pull the canvas out of square, as the stitch's own page says.
• Slanted gobelin is a longer diagonal stitch over two bars. It and Scotch stitch fill a large area faster, because each stitch covers more canvas.
• Running stitch and French knots add outlines and detail. Work them on top, after the background is filled in.
• Overcast stitch covers a raw edge. Whipstitch joins two pieces. Both are described below.

While you stitch:

• Cut yarn about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
• Do not knot it. Leave a tail of an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) on the back and work the first stitches over it. To finish, run the end under a few stitches on the back and trim.
• Keep the tension even. Loose stitches look uneven. Tight ones let the plastic show, and pulling hard bends the sheet.
• Do not carry yarn across the back from one patch of a color to the next. It can make the piece bow, and the color can show through.

Cutting

Plastic canvas patterns are cut by counting, not measuring. The graph in a pattern is almost never actual size. Count the holes on the graph, mark the same count on your sheet, then cut.

Counting holes is the rule for a plastic canvas pattern, whose graph draws the holes. A chart with one square for each stitch, such as a tent stitch chart, is counted another way: count bars, not holes, and leave one bar outside the stitches on every side. Counting holes leaves the piece one bar short. A chart 20 squares wide needs 22 bars across, which is 21 holes: 20 bars to stitch over and one at each edge. The same goes for its height.

Mark with a crayon, a grease pencil or a washable marker. The cut will run through the row of holes just outside the last hole or bar you counted, so put the mark on the bar beyond that row of holes, which is no part of the piece. Where another piece is to be cut from the plastic beside it, a bar left spare between the two keeps the mark off both.

A piece can be cut before it is stitched or after. Cutting first keeps the scissors away from finished stitches. Cutting afterward helps keep the yarn from snagging on a cut edge as you stitch. If you stitch before you cut, leave at least two bars between pieces stitched on one sheet, so that each keeps a whole bar outside its stitches, and do not run yarn across the back where a cut will come.

Count again before you cut. A wrong cut cannot be undone. When in doubt, leave a piece too big: it can be cut smaller later.

• Use sharp scissors. Cut through the holes, as close to the bar as you can, and leave the bars whole: the bars hold the stitches, and if the last bar is cut the stitches fall off. The cut runs through the row of holes just outside the last hole or bar you counted, so that the piece keeps a whole bar all round its edge.
• Trim off the little plastic nubs left along the cut edge, close to the bar but not into it, so they do not poke through the yarn.
• Snip the sharp tip off each outside corner on the diagonal, without cutting into the hole, so the yarn covers it more easily.

If a piece warps

A piece that has warped slightly can be flattened under a damp cloth. Do it before the piece is joined to another, while it can still lie flat. Do not weight a piece that has French knots or other raised stitches, so that they are not flattened.

1. Water can make some dyes run, so test each color first as the blocking guide describes. If any color moves, stop here and keep the damp cloth off the piece.
2. Lay the piece flat on a clean surface such as a glass tabletop or a board covered with plastic sheeting, not on a colored towel or printed paper.
3. Lay a clean, white, damp cloth over it and weight it flat overnight. Use a weight that damp cannot rust or mark, such as a sheet of glass with a weight on top.
4. Take off the weight and the cloth, and leave the piece flat on that surface until it is completely dry. Only then join it to another piece or put it away.

Covering edges and joining pieces

To overcast an edge: bring the needle up from the back through a hole at the edge, then up from the back again through the next hole along. The yarn wraps over the edge by itself. Work one stitch in every hole along a straight edge and at an inside corner, and two or three in each outside corner so the corner is covered. Do not pull so tight that plastic shows between stitches. Overcasting is done last.

To whipstitch two pieces together: hold them with wrong sides together and holes lined up. Take one stitch through each pair of holes along the edge, always in the same direction. The stitches join the pieces and cover both edges at once.

Small stitched decorations can be fixed on with hot glue. Treat the glue as permanent, and settle each decoration's place before you glue: a pattern shows where it goes, by placement lines on the graph or in the photo. Use the glue sparingly so it does not show.

How it differs from needlepoint on woven canvas

• No margin and no taping. Woven canvas is cut with bare canvas all round and its edges are bound with tape. Plastic canvas is cut to the finished shape and its edges are covered with yarn.
• Little or no blocking. A woven canvas is often blocked square when the stitching is done. Plastic canvas needs none as a rule; a piece that warps slightly can be flattened as described under "If a piece warps" above.
• Coarser counts. Plastic canvas runs from 5 to 14 holes to the inch.
• Knitting yarn more than needlepoint thread. Worsted weight acrylic yarn is the usual choice. The finer counts take embroidery floss or pearl cotton, which woven canvas takes too. For threads on woven canvas, see the thread guide.
• Mistakes can be taken out. Stitches can be removed without damaging the plastic.
• You put it together yourself. The pieces are joined with yarn as part of the stitching.