Learn how to cut and stitch plastic canvas coasters that feature a patchwork design of a fun, chunky checkered pattern together with apples perfect for Fall decorating or gifting to your favorite teacher.

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Plastic canvas coasters are easy to keep handy in the kitchen, dining room, living room and office so it’s easy to grab when you need it anytime you are drinking a delicious beverage and/or snacking – it’s a great item to set down a tasty treat on as well.

Coasters are so versatile, they don’t stop at being used for coffee or a snack. They are great little mats that work for all sorts of items like a small vase, plant, candle, pen or make up brush holder, lotions and more!

With the apple design on these coasters, they are a fun way to add a touch of cozy Fall to your home, use as favors at a farm or apple themed baby shower, gift to your favorite teacher or even turn it into a wall hanging instead and use it to decorate in a farm themed kids room.

These coasters are featured in my An Apple a Day Crafting Event 2026 hosted on my Yarn Crafts & Coffee blog with my friends Emily of Crochet Aweigh and Candace of T&C Crafters.

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Materials:

• Small Amounts of a Worsted Weight #4 Yarn
• Piece of 7 Mesh Clear Plastic Canvas that is 28 holes by 28 holes or just over 4 1/4″
• Tapestry Needle
• Scissors
• Optional: Jewelry Pliers
• Optional: Felt or Fabric for back, though I did not line mine
• Optional: Tape Measure

Yarn Talk:

I used Lion Brand Pound of Love in the Black, White, Cherry, Mocha and Wintergreen colorways. I used my 39 3/8″ long table to cut my strands of yarn – I would round that up to 40″ to be sure. I measured for the coaster that has the 4 apples and did not for the coaster with 5 apples so you may need more for that coaster, but for the 4 apple coaster I used: 1 white strand, 3 strands of red, 1 strand of brown, 1 strand of green, 5 strands of black for the squares and 2 strands of black for the border so 7 strands of black in total.

You may be wondering, what is the best yarn to use to stitch a plastic canvas coaster? With all of the cottons I’ve tried being too thin for 7 mesh plastic canvas, I typically reach for acrylic or wool yarns from my yarn stash for plastic canvas coasters. My chosen Lion Brand Pound of Love Yarn is a 100% acrylic yarn, and I have a several coasters and mug rugs I’ve made for myself using Red Heart Super Saver Yarn, which is also a 100% acrylic yarn and probably the most common yarn to use when it comes to working plastic canvas projects. A hot cup of coffee is not hot enough to melt synthetic fibers, and while it doesn’t quite absorb the same way as cotton does with cold beverages, it still holds the water and does not seep through to the surface. Lion Brand Wool Ease is another lovely yarn for coasters that I have used for some in my personal collection, and the wool adds to the durability and absorbency.

If you aren’t familiar with Lion Brand Pound of Love, it is so large with so much yardage packed into one skein that it lasts practically forever when it comes to needlepointing! Think of the size of Caron One Pound, but much softer and a little bit fluffier.

Lion Brand Pound of Love Yarn is a soft, acrylic worsted weight yarn that comes in a one pound ball. One pound means you won’t need many skeins to get projects done! Just one ball makes a baby blanket, or 2-3 scarves or shawls, or lots of beanies or what feels like an infinite amount of appliques and plastic canvas projects! You’ll also love that this yarn is machine washable and dryable, making projects so easy to care for! One ball contains 1,020 yards or 454 grams.

If you don’t have any worsted weight yarn to spare, you can hold two strands of lightweight yarn together, and stitch the same way with it, or hold one strand and work two passes per stitch.

Tools & Notions:

I used soft plastic canvas for my coasters. It doesn’t matter if you reach for soft or stiff canvas, though soft is more flexible and may not lay completely flat when not in use. Stiff canvas would create a more crisp coaster. Both options really are just fine.

7 count or 7 mesh plastic canvas comes in a soft version and stiff version as well as many canvas sizes and colors that other mesh sizes don’t. The 7 means that 7 holes equal 1″ wide and tall. It’s the most popular mesh size and is excellent for a variety of projects. When working with 7 mesh, you’ll want to use a worsted weight #4 yarn with a size #18 tapestry needle that has a blunt tip.

Can I use 5 mesh, 10 mesh or 14 mesh plastic canvas instead? The short answer is yes! If you wanted to change up the size of plastic canvas, use a respective size tapestry needle and yarn, and the stitch multiple to adjust the pattern.

• For size 5 mesh plastic canvas, I would recommend a #16 or #18 tapestry needle and a chunky weight #5 yarn, like Premier Yarns Basix Chunky or Lion Brand Hue and Me, but do note, it will come out on the larger size for a coaster, approximately 5 1/2″, following the same stitch pattern, or size the stitch pattern down to a 2 x 2 for a coaster that is approximately 3 3/4″.
• For size 10 mesh plastic canvas, I would recommend a #20 or #22 tapestry needle and a lightweight #3 yarn, like Premier Yarns Basix DK, and size up the stitch pattern to a 4 x 4 for a coaster that is approximately 3 3/4″ or 5 x 5 for a coaster that is approximately 4 5/8″.
• For size 14 mesh plastic canvas, I would recommend a #24 tapestry needle and 4-6 strands of embroidery floss or a #5 pearl cotton thread, and size up the stitch pattern to a 6 x 6 for a coaster that is approximately 4″ or a 7 x 7 for a coaster that is approximately 4 1/2″.

Tapestry Needles with the blunt, round end are essential for sewing and finishing in needlepointing on fabric and plastic canvas. The blunt, rounded end allows the needle to pass easily through the holes on canvas and the fabric created by the yarn without snagging (or getting your fingers) in the process. The long oval eye makes threading strands of yarn easier, though you may still want to use a needle threader.

Scissors are an essential tool. In my notions pouch, I always have a pair of lightweight, all-purpose scissors as they are so versatile and great for a variety of things from cutting plastic canvas mesh to cutting yarn strands and trimming yarn ends after weaving in to cutting out a care tag to include with a handmade gift.

Jewelry Pliers are an excellent tool to use to help weave in the ends of tough yarns, such as cotton yarns and chunkier yarns, or within tight stitches, especially when working in the Tent Stitch if you do the Half Cross Stitch variation, as these can be quite tough on the fingers when weaving in with just fingers and a tapestry needle. Sore thumbs and frustration can be a thing of the past by simply using jewelry pliers to help pull the tapestry needle through the work. Make sure the eye of the needle is facing up so you can see directly down it and carefully pull, wiggling as needed. If it gets caught and you tug too hard, it can break the eye of your needle and/or the plastic canvas mesh.

For a cleaner back, you could cut and attach some felt or fabric, or even cut an extra piece of clear or colored plastic canvas mesh. leave it unworked and whipstitch it to the top in the finishing process.

If you don’t want to count the holes on your canvas for cutting and you don’t want to stitch it first and then cut, you can use a tape measure to measure the canvas holes following the measurements provided and make a mark on the canvas so you know where to cut.

How to Wash Plastic Canvas Coasters?

I’ve had mug rugs and coasters with light coffee stains on them as well as with deep soda stains on them, and with a little spot cleaning, I’ve been able to make them good as new! Grab a damp towel or paper towel, and dab a couple times onto the coaster, then dab with a dry towel or paper towel and reassess. You may need to do it a couple times until the stain comes out. If it’s a tougher stain, you can use a gentle soap, like Dawn, on your damp towel. Repeat the same process, and once your stain is out, go back in with just a damp towel to work the soap out. Press with a dry towel to get out as much water as possible, and then lay flat to dry.

Alternatively, you can fill a bowl with some soapy water (I like to use cold like room temperature water, but you’ll find many others say warm water), and soap the coaster for about 10 minutes. Empty the bowl, and fill with just water, and rinse the coaster. I do not like to run the coasters directly under running water as it can be too abrasive. Press with a dry towel to get out as much water as possible, and then lay flat to dry.

Now, if you have a lining on the back of your coaster, like fabric, felt or cork, you’ll need to consider that when you are cleaning, how those items and/or the method of adhering it onto your coaster will hold up to your cleaning method or supplies.

As much all you’ll want to, make sure when cleaning not to try to rub the stain out or use anything that is too abrasive, like a brush, otherwise, you’ll find that your yarn will pill, fray or felt (depending on the fiber) and could look very worn and icky.

How long does it take to stitch a plastic canvas coaster using the continental stitch?

About 2 and a half hours for 1 coaster.

The whipstitch is about 30 minutes with the remainder of the time being the checkered pattern.

Measurements:

Before stitching, the mesh is just over 4 1/4″.

The finished coaster is 4 3/8″.

How to Continental Stitch aka Half Cross Stitch aka Tent Stitch

The Tent Stitch is a series of single diagonal stitches that run parallel to each other. There are a few variations of the Tent Stitch, but you’ll want to choose either the Continental or Half Cross to work your project in. The front of the stitch pattern looks the same, but the back of the stitch pattern varies. I prefer the Continental Stitch because it makes for a fuller, neater back, though it does use a little bit more yarn than the Half Cross Stitch. It is not uncommon to combine both styles as you work and not even realize it until you take a peek at the back, and really that is totally okay! As long as the front of the project looks correct, the back is no big deal so don’t feel pressure to pull any stitches out just to work in one style over the other.

Pattern Notes:

If you want to change up the size of the plastic canvas, you can easily add more chunky boxes to the pattern to add width and length to the coaster. Following the same pattern, you’ll want the total number of holes to be divisible by 9 + 10 so a number like 9, 18, 27 etc plus 10, with 10 being the first complete box of 9 x 9 stitches, and 9 being for each complete box after that. Really, with the basic square shape, the easiest way to adjust it is to stitch it first, and then cut it so you don’t have to stress about the math part and potentially not cutting the right number of stitches – this is my preferred method even when using the 7 mesh the coaster was designed in, and I would use it if I were stitching on a different mesh size as well.

I recommend the anchor stitch and final end of each strand be about 1/2″ – 1″ long.

Here is a peek at the back of my coaster stitched entirely in the continental stitch.

View & Download the Cut Graph, Stitch Graph & PDF:

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Yarn Crafts & Coffee newsletter subscribers get access to Exclusive Subscriber Content, like the free PDF of this pattern via the Free File Library. The library is password protected so sign up for my newsletter and you’ll receive a Welcome email containing this month’s password, or if you are already a blog subscriber, reference your latest newsletter for this month’s password. From the library, you’ll be able to access the PDFs via Google Drive – you do not need to have a Google Drive account to view and download the PDF.

My patterns are protected by copyright and are not free to share in Facebook groups or by private messaging. If you enjoy my pattern and would like to share it, feel free to share an image of the completed project only without removing my watermark or share a photo of your completed project and share the blog link to this tutorial so others can visit for themselves.

Plastic Canvas Coaster Tutorial:

You can either stitch the coaster first and then cut later, or cut the plastic canvas square out first, and then stitch.

To cut first, cut a square out that is 28 holes wide by 28 holes tall, or use a soft tape measure to measure out 4 1/2″, and cut just outside of that.

Following the stitch chart, use the Tent Stitch throughout creating overall boxes that are 9 stitches by 9 stitches.

When it came to the boxes with the apple, I worked the red stitches first, then the white, brown and finally the green. I purposely left the brown and green to the end so I would have other stitches to anchor them too.

While I designed these coasters to follow a checkerboard pattern, you could also work the entire background in one color.

For the cleanest appearance, I did not run my strand down to begin the next box. Instead, I fastened off after completing each box. You can do it either way – whichever you like best! Carrying your strand down would use even less yarn.

You will have 3 boxes wide by 3 boxes tall when finished.

After you finish all of your boxes, whipstitch around to finish – if you have not cut your canvas, you’ll want to do that first, and then whipstitch.

Please feel free to make and sell your own items made using this pattern, but keep in mind, this written pattern and my photos are protected by copyright. Please DO NOT claim this pattern as your own nor should you sell my pattern. DO NOT re-publish my photos as your own. DO NOT copy and paste my pattern anywhere, link to it instead so other’s can visit. Making videos providing instructions how to make my projects on any social media platform is also not permitted.

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