Plastic canvas has taken a bad rap over the years. It gained a reputation as being only for grandmothers to make tissue box covers.
Plastic canvas doesn’t have to be for just grandma anymore. If you look at the grids, you can see there is potential here. Plastic canvas has been linked for years with the use of yarn. What if you didn’t use yarn? What if you used ribbon or fabric? We are going to explore bringing plastic canvas up to date.
For the sake of keeping the directions simple, we are going to make simple boxes. Once you have the concepts down, you can take many of the old designs and bring them back to life with flair.
Project one
Materials Needed:
2 large sheets of plastic canvas
10 yards of 1/8th inch ribbon
Needle that will accommodate the ribbon width
Scissors
Making the box
For the first project we will veer from the original concept very little. From one sheet of the plastic canvas, cut a rectangle 8” x 6”. Now cut two strips 8” x 3” and two strips 6” x 3”. This is the base and sides of the box.
If you remember how the yarn was sewn so it would wrap the plastic, this is the same idea with the ribbon but using ribbon gives it a very different appearance. You begin with the inside of one of the sides. Come up from the wrong side to the right. Cross over the intersection on the grid in a diagonal fashion and insert needle. Bring needle up in the adjacent square and once again cross over the intersection and insert the needle in the diagonal position. Continue till the surface is complete. Using ribbon, sew the sides to the box at the long edges. Sew sides to each other at the short sides also using ribbon.
Making the top
Using the measurements for the bottom rectangle, add one grid row on the top and side edge. Cut rectangle. Now use this length for the length of your side pieces. They should measure approx. 8 ¼” x 1” and 6 ¼” x 1”.
Repeat the same process as the box until entire surface is covered. Add an embellishment to the top.
For a different look, use thicker ribbon that doesn’t fit like the 1/8” ribbon. If you used 1” ribbon each stitch would bunch up as it crossed the intersection of canvas. This can make a very textural surface and create some real interest.
I did mention using fabric. This is actually a leap from tradition as opposed to a baby step away. Stay tuned for the next article to find out how to make a funky fabric gift box.
