Cross-Stitch Plastic Canvas Book Cover

Materials:

DMC embroidery floss: 211 light purple, 955 light green, 519 blue, 605 pink, 727 yellow, 310 black, white or color to match canvas (839 if you are using brown)
Delta Jewel Glue
felt
Darice 10 ct brown plastic canvas
scissors
Wrights counted cross stitch needles 6504 #26
paperback novel

1. Lay your novel on top of your plastic canvas. Start in one of the corners. Leave one row of holes all around the novel. Cut two pieces for the front and back.

2. Hold your novel on it side to measure the spine (figure A). Again leave a row of holes on each side of the spine. Cut the same length as the front and back pieces.

3. From the remaining piece of plastic canvas, cut two pieces for holding your book to the cover (inside flaps) (figure B).

4. Start in the middle of your front piece of plastic canvas cross-stitching hearts. Use approximately two strands of 48-inch pieces of embroidery floss.

5. Fold your embroidery floss in half and thread your needle. Pull the floss through one of the holes and go down, up and to the right of that hole. Put your needle through the loop of your embroidery floss. This will secure your embroidery floss. This way you have a flat surface on the back of the cover. Work the heart pattern (figure C).

6. To finish off run your needle through some of your stitches on the back of your work. Leave approximately two or three rows of holes between each heart.

7. Outline the hearts with 1 strand of embroidery floss folded in half as you did with the two strands (figure D). Do a backstitch to outline the hearts. Again work your threads as you did in your hearts.

8. Back: You can make it like the front, or just put one heart on the back piece in the middle.

9. Spine: Start working the heart pattern four rows up from the bottom and in the middle of the piece. Keep adding hearts on top of each other until you are five rows from the top of your spine.

10. Glue your front, back and spine pieces to your sheet of felt. Dot spots of glue on each heart and apply a light coat to the rest of your plastic canvas pieces. Do not use a lot. Press your pieces on to the felt. Allow 5 to 10 minutes for the glue to set up. Cut around the plastic canvas pieces.

11. Assembly: Using a whipstitch line up your holes of the spine and the front piece (figure E). Sew the two pieces together using two stands of embroidery floss folded in half, so that you do not have a knot again. Work the ends of your thread back through your last few stitches. Sew the back piece to the spine.

12. To add the inside flaps, lay them on top of your lined front piece matching up holes. Again working with two strands of embroidery floss folded in half, starting in the upper corner, whipstitch the flap to the front piece. Whipstitch around the front, spine and up to where to back spine piece lines up and continue stitching around the cover (figure F). If you need to add more embroidery floss repeat directions as in hearts.

Bonus: The bookmark is made from 14 ct plastic canvas (10 holes by 74 holes). Stack 12 hearts like you did on the spine. Carefully cut the piece of canvas off around the hearts. Make two hearts that are not connected from scrap pieces of 14 ct plastic canvas. Glue a 12-inch piece of 1/8-inch ribbon to the back of the bookmark, adding a heart to the end of the ribbon. The bookmarks make great tuck-in gifts.