So I've been wanting to make a biscornu for a while. But I work mainly from kits and the kit market for biscornu is sadly lacking and what little there is seems overpriced.
I was resisting temptation!
Until...
I got issue 209 of the World of Cross Stitching with some neat free gifts and a second magazine (maybe cross stitcher? unfortunately now lost somewhere in the house - I'm sure it'll turn up at some point) with an article on making biscornu. Clearly it was meant to be.
The World of Cross Stitching came with two free gifts;
two lots of Metallic threads (Madeira 4012 and 4011) and a chart book '50 luxury Christmas charts.' I chose two of the snowflake designs and put metal to Aida. Three months or so later I finally finished.
Also of note this was my first time using metallic thread as well as my first time making a biscornu.
I did the side with the four squares in each corner first. Very determined not to make any mistakes...
I noticed halfway through I'd somehow inverted the colours. It only HAS 2 colours and I got them wrong. I'm a disgrace.
Fortunately the error didn't really detract from the ultimate design so I just carried on.
I decided to put little beads in the boxes (as can be seen in the photos) rather than an additional cross as shown on the cart. This was partially for pretties and partially because I forgot the crosses and didn't want to mess around going back for a single random cross. Lazy. But I do like how the beads look and if they hadn't done the trick I would have gone back and done what needed to be done.
It was also nice to dig through my bead box and actually use some of them rather than the box just sitting there gathering dust. The beads I used came off a now defunct bracelet purchased in a bulk bag of similar dead jewellery from my local second hand shop for a couple of bucks. If previous posts haven't already shown I love my second hand shops :-)
Working with metallic thread was significantly different from working with cotton. It made me pull my hair in frustration on several occasions and swear off using it ever again. And in a couple of places on the back of my stitching the threads got pretty ugly. I'm very thankful by it's very nature a biscornu will prevent the horror ever being seen again.
Next time I use metallic thread I'll get some tips first. And yes there will be a next time - it's just too pretty.
The other side is the one I stuffed up while slightly inebriated. Then when I eventually frog'd the affected area and redid it made the same mistake again - completely sober. I think the problem is I just can't count and nobody bothered to inform me of this fact.
I also relearned, as clearly once was not enough, that you should read the instructions fully before commencing a project. I didn't allow for a sufficient boarder around my design. I started stitching the pattern only 1 stitch away from the selvage. Meaning that my boarder joining the two pieces together was a maximum of one stitch away from my design. It was incredibly fiddly to stitch together and probably not the best option for a complete novice.
Lastly the end product is a little light on stuffing. I put enough in then panicked that it was too much so took some out. I was right with the first amount but it's too late to fix now. And regardless it's so cute I'm still very happy with it.
