Stitching a Whimsical Tablecloth from Plastic Canvas Circles

I recently found a way to combine my favorite hobby, embroidery, with leftover yarn from my mom's knitting stash. Last year, in some kind of fit, I bought these plastic canvas circles in different diameters — probably meant for making Christmas ornaments 😕

The canvas turned out to be very stiff, and stitching on it felt really awkward. But through trial and error, I discovered that pairing the canvas with yarn instead of embroidery floss — working plain half cross stitches — gives you these cute, puffy little rounds.

I could have stopped right there and used them as cozy coasters for hot mugs, but inspiration wouldn't let up, and it suggested the idea of a whimsical tablecloth.

To join the circles together, you first need to finish the plastic edges by stitching all of them in one color — black, for example, to play up the color contrast.

Now you can join the circles in any arrangement you like. The seam is shown here in white thread just for clarity, so you can see exactly how the pieces are connected.

In practice, beading monofilament (the kind used for bead embroidery) worked best of all: it's practically invisible against the yarn because it's semi-transparent. Plus, the thread itself is very strong, so you don't need to worry about the assembly holding up 😉