This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
A biscornu is a small, octagonal, stuffed ornamental pincushion.[1] It is usually made using evenweave fabric, such as Aida cloth, cotton or linen.[2] The technique involves joining two embroidered squares framed with a backstitch border with a whip stitch in such a way that each corner of one square is attached to the middle of the side of the other.[3][4] The term comes from the French adjective biscornu, which means irregular, skewed, or odd.[5]
Biscornus are relatively recent and often feature Counted thread embroidery like hardanger, cross-stitch and Blackwork. [6] A button is commonly placed in the center of the cushion to give it a pleasing tufted look.[5] Beads, ribbons, tassels and other objects can be used for decoration.[2] Biscornu typically fits in the palm of the hand. Although larger 15-sided versions are also made.
Mathematically, two squares joined together in the pattern of a biscornu will form the boundary of a unique convex polyhedron, by Alexandrov's uniqueness theorem.[4][7] In the case of a biscornu, this polyhedron is a flattened square antiprism, with ten faces: two smaller squares (diagonally inset into the squares from which the shape is formed) and eight isosceles right triangles (the corners of its original squares) around the sides. However an actual biscornu will have a somewhat more rounded shape than this polyhedron.
See also
- Paper bag problem, on the shape of a pillow formed by hemming two squares together corner-to-corner and edge-to-edge
References
- ^ Saluja, Kavita (2017). ""The Rabbit Hole" – New Frameworks of Awareness for Fashion Pedagogy". Scope (Art & Design). 15: 120–127.
- ^ a b Watts, Bobbie (January 2012). Teach Yourself to Make Biscornu (Leisure Arts #5406). Leisure Arts. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-60900-122-3. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
- ^ "Biscornu How To". Nordic Needle. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ a b Seaton, Katherine A. (2021-10-02). "Textile D-forms and D 4d". Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. 15 (3–4): 207–217. arXiv:2103.09649. doi:10.1080/17513472.2021.1991134. ISSN 1751-3472. S2CID 232257692.
- ^ a b "Biscornu". TRC Needles. Textile Research Center Leiden. 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
- ^ "Biscornu: a needlework oddity". Mary Corbet. 2025-10-29.
- ^ Devadoss, Satyan L.; O'Rourke, Joseph (2011). Discrete and Computational Geometry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-691-14553-2. MR 2790764..
 | This textile arts article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
