Sunday, October 16, 2011

Circular Logic

Do you ever find yourself saying "I can't make anything round because I don't have a circular pattern"? I know I do. For smallish things, I usually trash the kitchen in search of appropriately sized round things to trace. The biggest thing we own is a 16" pizza pan, so for circles larger than that I have to do the trick with the string and the pen, which I'm not very good at. I wanted to make a tablecloth yesterday, so I finally took the time to make a large scale, printable circle pattern. I put the pattern and instructions together in a little pdf tutorial, which you can download for free!

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The pattern is actually nested quarter circles. Simply fold the fabric into fourths and align the pattern at the indicated edges...couldn't be easier. Markings are provided to make circles from 1" to 58" in diameter. You can also use this pattern for making circles with perfectly centered holes so you can make things like poodle skirts, tree skirts, and giant stuffed donuts.


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I used the full 58" pattern to make an outdoor tablecloth from Jennifer Paganelli's
Sis Boom Queen Street Line.


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Look how beautifully this stuff cuts! No need for hemming...it will never fray.


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I'm in love with this print (OCJP03 Jodi)...so perfect with fall flowers!

Click here to download the free printable circle pattern.

UPDATE: For some reason (probably the gazillion little lines from the circles), the PDF file was HUGE (50+ MB - gasp)! I tried lots of ways to print it smaller, but nothing worked. I ended up printing the patterns on my printer and scanning them back in. It isn't as pretty, but it is only 1.27 MB now. Thanks so much for your patience!



38 comments:

Jamie said...

Genius! Thanks for sharing this info :)

Jessica with Magical*Memories*by*Jessica said...

That is so pretty. I think I will do this next summer for our table on our top deck.

Mindy said...

Carla, this is so AWESOME! Thank you! And I love you table cloth! That is one of my favorite prints!

Susan said...

That's great! Thank you for the pattern! I love the tablecloth!

Cathy said...

What a very handy download!!! I love how you can make any diameter circle with this pattern! Your table cloth is just lovely! It livens up your table and the flowers are just the right touch. Hope your wonderful hubby makes a nice meal you can enjoy out in this beautiful fall weather!!!

Andrea said...

Such a pretty tablecloth. Thank you for the pattern - I can't cut a circle to save my life.

Sew Pretty Dresses said...

Carla what a great template! Is this the Jodi Laminate? I just ordered some!

CrafterBerly said...

Awesome resource, thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I bet it will help many people, including me if I were to ever need a circle cut for anything. :)

Thanks again!!

Ginger said...

Thanks! This will come in handy.

Digital Misfit said...

Carla I LOVE you! My mom has been bugging me to make a tablecloth for her kitchen. Circles are my nemesis, so I have been putting it off. Thank you SO much for this!
hugs,
Heidi G.
aka Digital Misfit

Sewing Princess said...

Although I don't have a circle table...this is genius...you always need to make circles at some point.

Jen said...

This is perfect for my Halloween sewing! Need a circle to make a pea costume to accompany the princess!

Amy said...

OMGoodness you are brilliant!! Thank you for sharing! :)

ThirtySevenWest said...

Wonderful idea! And your tablecloth came out beautifully. Love the pattern you chose!

saffiertje said...

hello carla the download PDF does not work... can you please mail me the pattern???
Awesome work on it!

PK said...

Another one wanting the pdf, but it doesn't work in firefox, IE or Chrome. Any chance of having it emailed?

Dianna Stamper said...

Thank you for putting this together!! You are Amazing!

I do have a question. To show my example, we can refer to a 2" circle. The radius will be cut at 2", but the circle will actually be 4", correct? Cut at 1" will be a 2" circle? cut at 5", the circle will be a 10" circle? so, if you cut at 58" then the circle will be 116 inches across. Is this right?

Dianna

Crunchy Crafty and Crazy said...

Way cool! Thanks for sharing! I'm totally making a giant felt stuffed donut for a photo prop :)

Nancy said...

For some reason I am unable to get your circle template. Can you send it to me please?

Nancy said...

I am not getting your circle template.


hadden004@gmail.com

Joy Burkhart said...

Thank you for creating this pattern and making it available to those like me that are math challenged! :)
xoxo
Joy

Grandma G said...

Thank you for the pattern... AND for making it smaller! :)

Laurie said...

Thank you! This will be very useful.

Laurie

Clearwater Creations said...

This will be very useful. I made a tablecloth for a sort of round picnic table with umbrella hole in the middle. But never got around to trimming the sides down. I couldn't figure how to make it perfectly circular! So it's a square cloth on a round table. Fortunately for me, hubby likes it that way! Your pattern will help me for future ones that are really round. Thanks!!

kat said...

Wouldn't it be easier (and fun!) to make a compass like in here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4420899_make-compass-using-pencil-string.html

make handmade said...

So cute! thanks for sharing.

PennI Pops said...

Thank you for sharing all of your hard work with us! Inspirational!
Penni xxx

Samantha said...

Thank you so much for this, I could not find a large enough compass lol

Anonymous said...

Thank you x 150. I just printed your circles pattern and I'm very thankful to have found something that actually works once and for all. I was just about to cry. Now my yoga bag will have a perfect bottom. Merry Christmas!

Artemisia Moltabocca said...

Thank you! Now I can throw away that perfectly measured (and annoying) piece of string.

la marquise de carabas said...

Pour tracer un cercle, il vous suffit aussi de prendre un crayon et de la ficelle. Vous faites un noeuds avec la ficelle, sur le crayon, de la longueur du rayon souhaité. Vous placez la pointe du crayon sur le pli central et vous tracez le quart de cercle! Cela va un peu plus vite que d'imprimer de feuilles....
Merci pour votre blog que je découvre et qui est rempli d'astuces!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much!!! awesome :)

Isangel said...

Genial!! Muchas gracias!!

Heidi Perez said...

I could kiss you for this! Thanks you thank you thank you! The largest circle I could find in my house was 18" and I was looking for something at least 24". This is a sanity saver!

Social Historian said...

Many, many, many thanks for this, I was hoping someone would have created something like this. I appear to be incapable of producing perfect circles and needed the help! This is even more useful than I ever imagined I would find online.

L.Nicole said...

Great idea! I sewed a circular cover for a footstool and wiil be linking this pattern to my blog, www.artfullycraftedblog.blogspot.com.

Lz M. said...

I want to do a large-scale compass rose painting on a drape, and I think this might just be big enough to work for me. Thank you so much!