How To... Make Biscornu

I've been having fun making biscornu this week and want you all to share the fun so I've made this handy guide.  Have fun!



1. Stitch the two halves of the biscornu - make sure the two squares are exactly the same size.

Don't forget the backstitch line around the boarder - this is really important for joining the two halves together.

2. Trim the two halves, leaving a 1/8" boarder - I found a 3 square boarder worked well.

3. Fold down all edges.  Make sure you create a sharp crease - this will make your job easier.

Depending on your design you may also want to fold one side in half in order to find the middle of the edge for the next step.  The lines on the back half of mine made this step easy.

4. Use two strands of the same coloured thread as the backstitch line.  Tie a knot in the strands (the only time I ever recommending using knots!) and push it through a corner of one side of the biscornu.  Then push the needle through the middle of the edge of the other half.  Use the picture as a guide.

Bring the needle back to the front of the biscornu by coming out one square below.

5. Bring the two edges together and line up your back stitch lines.  Thread the needle through the back stitch lines, working your way along the edge

6. Watch your corners - if you just keep taking it one backstitch line at a time you will be fine.  Eventually your biscornu pillow will start taking shape, turning into an 8 sided square.

7. Leave yourself an opening - I left one side (or two half sides) open

8. Stuff your biscornu with wadding.  I find the stuffing from a cheap pillow works really well.

Then finish stitching the edges together.

9. At this point there are two different ways to go, depending on how long the remainder of your thread is.  If your thread is pretty short, thread the needle back along your seam tos ecure it before cutting off any left over bits.

With a new double thread, push your needle in through the seam and then out through the centre of the cushion - this is to attach the button (as per step 10)

10. If your thread is still long enough after finishing the seam, push your needle into the finished pillow and bring it up through the centre of the piece.

Attach a button to either side of the pillow by pushing your thread from one side to the other.  Do this several times to ensure it is secure.

If you are making a pincushion, end by bringing your needle back out through a seam before trimming the thread.

11.  To make your biscornu into a hanging decoration, bring your needle back out through one of the corners of the biscornu, and then tie the ends of the threads together to create a hanging point.





There are lots of biscornu patterns available on pinterest, Esty and other on-line locations (I've seen some Doctor Who ones with weeping angels).  I'm also working on some patterns for my Etsy store (I'll keep you posted!).  In the mean-time you could always try my very basic pattern to get you started.

Happy stitching!

Biscornu

 This week I discovered biscornu.

I'm a little bit behind the trend, I know.  They seemed to be all the rage last year, but I never got around to making one.  To be honest, I had no idea what I would end up doing with it (as opposed to the 101 cross stitches that are hanging on my wall), and there were so many other projects to work on instead.

However, the local Agricultural Show this year has a section for pincushions (a whole section - goodness knows why!) so I decided to have a go.

I made two different ones - one was a blackwork pattern I found on Pinterest that I stitched in purple threads (because why not); the second was my own pattern.  I used the Great A'Tuin pattern from my Discworld alphabet and some geometric shapes.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out.  I'm going to put together a bit of a how-to guide because I've now discovered there can never be too many biscornu - stay tuned!

Happy Stitching!

Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably-priced Love, and a hard boiled egg. Oh, and a free pattern

If you have to ask, you weren't there.

The 25th of May has become the unofficial Discworld Day/Terry Pratchett Day for Discworld fans around the globe.

Night Watch cover art by Paul Kidby

The date comes from the novel Night Watch.  In my honest opinion, this is the greatest novel in the Discworld series, and probably the best book I have ever read.  By Night Watch, Terry has sorted out the rules of his world, and is sticking to them fairly faithfully - the rules about how magic works on the Disc, how the society is structure, the politics and policies, what a dwarf/troll/human/vampire/werewolf/gnome/pixie/wizard/witch is and how they interact/relate to everyone else.  Ankh-Morpork has a more concrete map and you feel like you are living in the city.  There is a history to the world, the city, the characters that is faithfully followed.  There are people who live in Ankh-Morpork, who work in Ankh-Morpork, and who reappear in novels set in the city.  In Night Watch we as a reader are able to invest fully in the story, because we aren't trying to work out how everything else on the Disc is supposed to work.  More than that, in Night Watch we are finally able to discover the history of a lot of our favourite characters: how CMOT Dibbler got his name, how Sam Vimes became the policeman he was destined to be, what a young Vetinari was like, why Nobbs.  Lu-Tze even makes an appearance.  There's time travel, adventure, crime, war (sort of), magic, mystery, torture, coming-of-age, obligatory father figure.  Basically everything you could want in a sci-fi/fantasy novel. Even dragons (albeit small ones you can light cigarettes with)

When asked about the book's "darker" themes, Pratchett said:

"A dark book, a truly dark book, is one where there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Where things start off going bad and carry on getting badder before they get worse and then it's all over. I am kind of puzzled by the suggestion that it is dark. Things end up, shall we say, at least no worse than they were when they started... and that seems far from dark to me. The fact that it deals with some rather grim things is, I think, a different matter."

Back to the 25th May.  The 25th May was the date of the great rebellion against the political leader of the time. The People (more dangerous than ordinary people) decided they were sick of the tyrannical rule and corrupt police/torturers and rebelled, forming The Glorious People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road.  They fought for Truth.  For Justice.  For Reasonably-priced Love (seamstresses will not fight for free love).  And for a Hard Boiled Egg.

They wore the lilac and sang dirty songs about angels rising up.

Don't forget - until the end of May, profits from the sale of Discworld-themed items in my Etsy store are being donated to the Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation. (as explained in this post).

My gift to you on this glorious 25th May is a free pattern, a memory to the Glorious People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road.

I hope the picture appears okay! You should be able to click on it for a larger version.  Otherwise, if you email me I can send you the PDF version.

The colours are DMC 209 and DMC 310. The French knots can either be French knots with DMC209, or seed beads. French knots come up better in the program I use than beads, but I prefer using beads.  I used Mill Hill 2085 but I'm not sure if they're available any more.  Why not try Mill Hill petite 40252.  Or any other purple beads you have lying around!  On 14 count aida, it will fit a standard 4x6" picture frame.

I ran out of time tonight so only stitched two of the lilac branches, which looks pretty good too (I'm the worst person for following patterns, even my own!).

Happy Stitching and fight on!

A Thursday Update

I had great plans for this week - I was going to finalise a new pattern and release it into the shop, I was going to make gains on my latest craft swap piece, I was going to post a blog or two.

Then I got sick.

It's just a head cold, but it has knocked me for 6, and I wound up having half of Friday, Monday and most of Tuesday off sick.  If the weekend hadn't been in the middle there, I may have had a couple more days off as well.  The cold meant I couldn't think straight enough to form a sentence let alone a blog post.  My brain went fuzzy at the sight of a computer screen, and I spent most of the last few days lying on the couch vaguely watching TV.  I couldn't even really tell you what I watched - the latest Phryne Fisher episode, a 3rd Rock From The Sun episode or two, and a dodgy movie or two were in there but not sure what else.

I'm pretty pathetic when I get sick - 'man flu' has nothing on me - but I really was out of it this time.  The girls in the office sent me home on Friday, and then again on Tuesday when I rocked up for an hour in the morning.  Lord help me if I ever get anything really serious!

At any rate, I'm coming out the other side now.  I was at work all day Wednesday (although I'm not sure what I accomplished) and I'm back at work today, suposedly working on a presentation I'm giving this afternoon (although it's not getting very far at the moment!).

However, having a couple of days of sick did have its benefits - I managed to finish my current WIP.  It's now with OzzyPip waiting to be put into a wall hanging with her embroideries for our show entry.  The full piece needs to be finished by next weekend to be entered into the Show.

The blue stripes are the striped tea towel behind the piece!

Off to take more cold-and-flu drugs, blow my nose, and get back to work on this presentation.

Happy Stitching!

WIP Update

It makes quite a change to be stitching a pattern I didn't design- first non-Fangirl-Stitches piece I've worked on since January I think! I'm loving this piece- there's lots of block colours so it's quick to stitch, but still enough shading to keep it interesting. Hopefully I'll finish it next week so OzzyPip (Mum) can get started on piecing together the wall hanging.

The piece is called Advance Australia and comes from the Cross Stitch and Bead Weaving magazine.

I'm not sure if Skimbles was engrossed in my stitching and wanted to help, or if he was jealous of it and wanted the attention. Either way, he claimed my stitching arm and it took quite a bit of effort to reposition him. 

I'm off to Mackay tomorrow (4 hour drive). Unfortunately I'm travelling alone which means 8 hours of quality stitching time will be wasted. Oh well, at least I'll get to go to Spotlight and pick up some much needed supplies. 

Happy Stitching!