8 Plastic Canvas Stitches

The continental stitch (or half cross stitch) is the stitch you should begin with. It looks like half a cross stitch and is the foundation for many other stitches you'll do in your plastic canvas projects! Depending on what you're more comfortable with, you can begin moving left to right, or right to left. Unlike in crochet projects, you won't turn your work: simply continue the next row in the opposite direct that you started with.

How to do it: If you begin left to right, bring your yarn up through the bottom left corner and insert the needle into the box diagonal (kitty-corner) to the upper right. Bring the yarn back through the box below, and insert it in the next upper-righthand box. Continue to the end of the row.

Projects Featuring the Continental Stitch:

The long stitch uses the same basic principle as the continental stitch, but it spans three boxes instead of just two. Looking at the photo, you can also decide if you want your long stitch to be slanted like the continental stitch, or straight up and down on the front of your project. In fact, you might also see this stitch written as the gobelin stitch or slanted gobelin. 

Here is an example of what the slanted long stitch, or slanted gobelin, looks like. You can situate these longer stitches next to shorter ones like the continental stitch for a unique look. In fact, by situating short and long stitches just so, you can create little boxes that form the mosaic stitch!

Projects Featuring the Long Stitch or Gobelin Stitch:

The mosaic stitch is gorgeous for making squares. By pairing the continental stitch with the slanted gobelin (or slanted long stitch), you create little boxes that are great for adding texture to the canvas. This is particularly great for colorwork as well. Alternate colors in your boxes for a lovely checkerboard design, as shown in this sampler video from Mary Maxim (about a minute and a half in).

Projects Featuring the Mosaic Stitch:

Cross stitch is a term most people are familiar with! It is the natural conclusion of the continental stitch, where you go back and cross over that first diagonal. The back of the cross stitch tends to look messy, but the front is lovely.

Projects featuring the Cross Stitch:

If you are a sewist, you know about the back stitch. This stitch is lovely for borders. It's ideal to use a particularly thick yarn for stitching as it doesn't cover quite as much space as the other stitches. Otherwise the plastic canvas will show through without the aid of the slanting stitches which will ultimately cover the entire grid. It does offer you a great deal of freedom as you can work stitches in any direction.

The whipstitch is used for joining two sheets of plastic canvas together, much like joining granny squares in crochet. This is an ideal stitch for making tissue box covers, clutches, and other plastic canvas projects that are 3-dimensional.

Projects Featuring the Whipstitch:

The overcast stitch is used for neatly finishing plastic canvas projects. Much in the same way painters paint the edges of a canvas, so too does using the overcast stitch make a project look finished. Simply follow the edge of the plastic canvas with your needle and yarn in a continental fashion, and you will polish off your project.

Projects Featuring the Overcast Stitch: Most projects feature the overcast stitch to cleanly cover the edges, but below are a few that we think showcase this stitch particularly beautifully.

There are several more plastic canvas stitches out there, though this guide covers the basics. If you didn't find what you were looking for in our beginner guide above, or you'd just like to see videos demonstrating these stitches, our friends at Annie's have a gorgeous collection of videos showcasing over twenty plastic canvas stitches.

Speaking of videos, if you're a visual learner, watch our video for the Spice Islands Placemat Plastic Canvas Pattern.