If you’ve ever wanted to dabble in cross stitch on plastic canvas you probably did exactly the same as me, and countless others; you started it. So long as you’ve not thrown it at the wall in hatred, you then get to the end of the project, and a simple question is asked: “How do I finish this thing?”
Turns out there are actually a few ways, and you can turn your creations into keyrings, pendants, needle minders, magnets, badges, pins, earrings and more! So we’ve going to round up the best ways to finish off your plastic canvas so you can make the most of your cross stitch, regardless of what type of plastic canvas you’ve used.

Back Stitch The Edges

Great for:

• Earrings
• Keyrings
• Needle Minders/Magnets
• Pendants

In my mind, this is the way I like to finish off plastic canvas. The main reason is that it avoids the issues that overcasting the edges can bring (we’ll get onto that later), and depending on your project, its probably the easiest way to finish it. In short, you need to backstitch around the edges. This, in essence, is all it is, but by combining it with a few other things you can make some really awesome projects.
 
The first thing to do is back it with the same cross stitch. You need to swap the pattern over (if it’s not symmetrical) but by doing this you can make keyrings, earrings, tags and more as both sides might be seen. A good example of this is my Bioshock Infinite Bird Cage cross stitch where I took the idea a little further and changed each side ever so slightly.
However, if you don’t see the back (like a magnet, pendant or needle minder) you can simply backstitch an unstitched piece of plastic canvas to it. The advantage here is that the back of your work doesn’t get damaged, and you can slip in a magnet. This means the magnet never touches your work (if you’re making a needle minder) or the fridge itself, which is good as neodymium magnets can stain aida.
 

Overcast The Edges

Great for:

• Pins
• Badges

The other alternative for finishing plastic canvas is overcasting the edges of your work. This protects the raw edge of the plastic canvas, but in turn, also adds another layer of thread (roughly the same width as a whole stitch) along the edge. You can work this into your design if you need a black edge, but can sometimes cause the great cross stitch to be lost.
 
But, it has lots of advantages too. Namely, you can back your work. I would suggest felt as it’s easy to cut, soft to the touch and easy to sew. You can cut out hole and mount a pin behind it too allowing you to change your project into a badge or pin.