Starfish and five shells hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 6 kinds of stitch

Starfish and five shells: preview of the stitched design

A starfish lies in a ring with five scallop shells seated on the ring, one over every space between two arms. The arms of the starfish are satin stitch, each split by a channel of bare cloth that holds a row of four French knots, round a woven wheel. The ring is teal chain stitch, and each shell is five ribs of blue fishbone stitch inside a teal stem stitch rim, with a hinge and two ears of teal satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading, with a woven wheel; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 colors of floss and 6 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.7 in	6.9 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.6 in	9.4 × 9.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.5 in	11.7 × 11.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 6.3 in	16.3 × 16 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseRing, rim of the shell, shell ears and shell hinge
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseStarfish arms
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawStarfish knots
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaStarfish middle
DMC 3755 Baby BlueShell ribs

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing
Satin stitch 2 strandsStarfish arms, shell ears, shell hinge
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsStarfish knots
Woven wheel stitch 2 strandsStarfish middle
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsShell ribs
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRim of the shell

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.