A red bill reaches toward the inner surface of an open mussel while one foot lifts from the shore. This PDF oystercatcher embroidery pattern includes four mussel units and folding kelp ribbons around that contact.
Linen and colour planning
Suggested fabric: warm ochre linen. The palette proposes 24 DMC shades for stranded cotton. Supply your own needles, hoop or frame and a transfer method suitable for the cloth. Test the transfer and physical thread colours on a small swatch first.
Before tracing the pattern
Artwork canvas: 300 x 232 mm, landscape, including the open background areas. Print the separate A3 transfer at Actual Size / 100% and check the 50 mm control bar. Guide previews are reduced. These are canvas dimensions, not a finished hoop, cushion or bag size. The Stitch Guide itself uses US Letter pages.
What the download contains
The package contains the 16-page Stitch Guide PDF, a full-size A3 transfer PDF, SVG linework, white and transparent 600 dpi linework PNGs, a colour reference JPG, the thread-and-region CSV, READ_ME instructions and the Hand Embroidery Stitch Sampler, Essential Needlework Handbook PDF.
A closer look at the motif
Oystercatcher Across the Mussel Line centres on a precise feeding gesture. Keep each paired shell readable, shade the kelp as flat turning ribbons, and preserve the gap beneath the raised foot as you build the shore.
The stitch recipes
The guide maps 12 working regions with local stitch direction, strand count and DMC colour recipes. Use the region key and recommended sequence to follow the overlaps and changes in shading. Mapped techniques include curved long-and-short, fine fill and split, tiny satin and narrow shaded fill.
How many mussel units are in the pattern?
There are four units altogether, two closed and two open. The paired valves of each open mussel belong together, with curved inner surfaces mapped separately from the shore.
Download format and licence
Digital files only. No fabric, thread, tools or finished embroidery is supplied. Colour references and lifestyle mockups show design and presentation ideas. For personal, non-commercial use. Do not share, redistribute or resell the digital files.
