What is a biscornu? How to make a pincushion? A biscornu is a French adjective that means irregular in shape. The Blog French Word of the Day contains the explanation of the term biscornu:

Bis means ‘twice’, and cornu means ‘with horns’, ‘that which has an irregular form, with projections’, or ‘complicated and bizarre.

It is a small eight-sided pillow usually made out of Aida cloth or regular linen, you can use all embroidery stitches that you know to decorate and personalize the top and bottom of the small pillow.

Use a button to secure in the center of the pillow and to give a small depression on the top; you can also use beads to decorate the biscornu.The ideal size of a biscornu is between three to four inches, but can be smaller or bigger if using as a fob or decorative pillow respectively. A biscornu can be done using the technique of crochet, quilting or patchwork but the result is not like a counted thread.

Biscornus are very elegant and they are used by the embroiderer as holiday ornament, pincushion or cell phone decoration. They are popular items for stitchers to exchange in fact there are many biscornu exchanges arranged online through blogs, forums and social network.

Here below there is a biscornu guilde how to find tutorials and free patterns to make a biscornu.

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