Sew a pretty biscornu fabric pin cushion from your fabric scraps! This biscornu pin cushion is made from two fabric squares and is perfectly sized and shaped to hold your sewing pins and needles. I’ve got a tutorial (and free template) for you below.
As much as I like going and buying new fabric, I also get a lot of satisfaction from sewing something completely from what I have on hand. And I have a lot of scrap fabrics on hand! I’ve got a pretty substantial stack of charm squares left over from previous projects. They’ve been sitting there a while and I haven’t known quite what to do with them. Until today.
I used two of my charm squares to create this pretty biscornu fabric pin cushion. See how the corners wrap down around from the top to the bottom and vice versa? That’s because the corners are offset.
It looks good with either side facing up. This is a fun project for mixing prints.
Biscornu are typically made from cross stitched designs and are hand sewn together. But you can also just sew by machine using quilting weight cottons. It seems like it would be complicated, but with a little bit of prep (and marking your fabric) it’s actually quite easy.
The two charm squares I used for this pincushion were left over from the pack I used to make this charm square bunting banner, and these mini mitten Christmas ornaments. How’s that for getting my money’s worth from one pack of charm squares?
You can make your biscornu pincushion in any size, but a 5” square is a nice size to work with and makes a pin cushion big enough to hold all your pins without being too much of a space hog on your sewing table.
Supplies
2 5” squares of fabric (Charm squares are great for this!)
Polyfil stuffing
2 buttons, 5/8” – ¾” diameter
Temporary fabric marking pen
Free Pattern – Biscornu Fabric Pin Cushion
All seam allowances are ¼” Seam allowances ARE included in the pattern.
Prep
Place one of the fabric squares wrong side up. Use a temporary fabric marking pen to mark lines ¼” in from all four sides. This will be your stitch line.
On both of the fabric squares, cut short notches to mark the corners and middle points of each side. The snips should go only half way to the marked line. DON’T SNIP ALL THE WAY TO THE LINES.
If you don’t want to bother with measuring to find the middle of each side, you can use the free pattern to see where to make the snips.
It’s helpful to also use a temporary marking pen to mark the middle points of each side. The snips alone are sometimes hard to see when you’re sewing.
Sew the Pin Cushion
Place your fabric squares RST, with the square with the ¼” markings on top. Line up the top marked line on the top square (NOT the top edge of the fabric itself) with the notch on the side of the bottom square.
Sew from that top marked line down to the first notch. Stop stitching with the needle down in the fabric.
With the needle still down, rotate the squares so they’re lined up along the side again. The snip into the seam allowance will help you rotate the fabric. You may need to use an awl or straight pin to help get the layers adjusted.
At this point you’ll start getting deep folds in the top square. That’s okay. That’s just the offset points and sides taking shape. Just make sure all the extra bulk is out of the way of the needle.
Illustrations are switching to photos to show steps because it’s hard to show the shaping of the layers accurately in a diagram.
Sew from this point down to the marked corner, then stop again with the needle down. Rotate the squares so they’re lined up.
Continue sewing around the squares, stopping at notches and corners to rotate and realign the fabric squares, stopping just before the last section. Leave the last section open to act as a turning hole.
Clip corners and turn right side out.
Stuff the pin cushion with Poly Fil stuffing. Use plenty of stuffing and make sure you get the stuffing into all of the points.
Use a ladder stitch to hand sew the turning hole closed.
Sew the Buttons
The last step is to add some buttons and tufting to the center of the biscornu pin cushion. This gives it extra dimension and a nice shape.
With a needle and thread, take a couple of stitches in the middle of the pin cushion.
Sorry for the bad lighting in this photo. I’m not sure what happened with the lighting here!
Sew a button where you took the stitches, and then send the needle through the pincushion and sew another button in the same spot on the other side.
Sew through the buttons several times, sending the needle between them and giving a good tug on the thread as you do, in order to create tufting.
When the buttons are good and secure, knot the thread in an inconspicuous place and cut the thread.
Your biscornu style fabric pin cushion is done!!
If you love this sewing post from Anne, then you will love these posts as well:
Quilted Pocket Pot Holders Sewing Tutorial and Free Pattern
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