Throwback Thursday Craft-Plastic Canvas (really?)
It’s time again for a little throwback Thursday to honor some “vintage” crafts, and this is the last post in this #TBT series. We’ve covered Spirograph, Fashion Plates, and Other Plates. Today we’re going to mix it up and talk about plastic canvas.
Who remembers the tissue boxes made out of plastic canvas, with ornate designs, and French knots, and having to join the edges? Or the Christmas ornaments meticulously cut out and numerous yarns used to complete them? You usually had to cover the back with felt because it was such a hot mess by the time you were done, trying to hide yarns under stitches but not really having enough stitches to do so.
For those of you unfamiliar with plastic canvas, it usually came in roughly a 12×9 sheet. It was gridded and designs were similar to being pixelated. In the picture, you’ll see a sheet of it laying underneath of everything.
Needless to say I did just a wee bit of plastic canvas in my day. Yes, these were all ornaments I had made. Even as a kid I thought I’d have a craft store one day.
There was the spring duck door hanger, a 3-D Victorian house that served as a doorstop (just slide a brick inside of it), and a peach and green tissue box holder for my 4-H entry….which one first place, might I add. 😉 Tissue boxes abounded as did ornaments.
Plastic canvas inspiration
I remember browsing through my Grandma’s Herschnerr’s catalogs, and upon hitting the plastic canvas section, would just be in heaven. She would smile at my sheer happiness because to her, it was just a catalog they sent her because she had ordered in the past. I would quietly ask my Grandma if I could take a particular one home so I could draw up a design. She usually always let me, unless it was the newest catalogue and she hadn’t had a chance to look through it yet.
As a youngster, I would get out my paper (sometimes using the back side of the big desk calendar months), a ruler, and my colored pencils, and would try to see how close I could come to graphing one of the patterns. For me it was a bit of a challenge to come up with their design, making tweaks where I needed to. The intent was always to then make the item, but a lot of times, I was just happy to do the design recreation.
Learning design elements
And by learning how the patterns were made, I learned logistics too. I learned how to make a character into a pixelated image. I learned how to follow the design.
Fast forward to my adult years, and I think about how I learned to crochet. I learned basic stitches. I usually always followed a pattern. And then I learned how make a baby hat from a pattern and would donate them. And after learning the logistics of making a hat, I created my own hat pattern through much trial and error.
There is definite value in learning how to produce something, and sometimes you have to learn from those that have blazed the trail ahead of you, learn the logistics, and then forge your own path.
What was one of your early crafting adventures? Is there anyone else out there that went through the plastic canvas craze? What were some of the items you made?
