Have you ever tried a biscornu pincushion

Have you ever tried to make a biscornu pincushion?

Biscornu means: a small, octagonal, stuffed ornamental pincushion. It is usually made out of Aida cloth or linen, sewn from two square sheets of cloth in such a way that each corner of one square is hemmed to the middle of a side of the opposite square.

Here’s one I made a while ago with some acorn applique using a die by Accuquilt.

 I finished another simple nine patch one and here’s how I did it.

You start off with 2 blocks the same size, in my case they were 6 1/2″ but smaller might be better.

mark each corner 1/4″ from each side (one of them from the back too is better) and the midway point of each side!

Pin one corner 1/4″ point with the midway point of the other block, right sides together, the midway point of the top block with line up with the next corner 1/4″ point of the bottom block!

Start sewing from that point to the corner/midway point and pivot with the needle DOWN

then carefully turn the top block so the side now follow the edge of the bottom block, so it’s a 90 degree turn.

Continue to the next midway/corner point and pivot again and continue around about 7 sides- as long as there’s enough space to turn the pincushion right side out and stuff!

It looks odd, but also makes sense, it’s really an 8 sides funky shape!

turn right side out and it looks like this

stuff it with fiberfill and sew the opening closed

I prefer to hand-sew a ladder stitch so it’s invisible.

For the finishing touch I added a button in the middle and sewed it tightly thru the bottom so it squeezes in the center!

You can buy some neat machine embroidery files that are specific for biscornu because they are pretty full on one block and the second block only has something in the corners and then blank in the center for a button.

 

I’ve also made these several years ago for a book called “Pincushions and more”

Have you ever tried Biscornu pincushions? Try it with even just 2 plain squares so you get the technique, then explore other options!