Free border SVG files

Making a border any length

Each repeating border holds a whole number of repeats in its 100 mm and has flat ends, so the pattern leaves one end exactly where it enters the other. To make a longer run, place copies end to end, 100 mm apart at file size, and weld them. To go round a rectangle, run strips along the sides and cover each corner with a small square or a circle, or use the corner border, which is drawn to turn a right angle.

Scale a border by its length, not its height, and keep the proportions locked. If you need a strip a little longer or shorter than a whole number of copies, stretch the whole run by a few per cent: nobody will see it.

Cutting long thin strips

Borders are narrow, so they stretch and curl when lifted. In vinyl, weed with the strip still on its backing and move it with transfer tape. In card, a border under 10 mm tall is fragile: cut it at 150 mm long or more, or cut it as part of the edge of the card itself by welding it to a rectangle.

The lace and braid borders have the finest parts. Each design page gives its narrowest part at 100 mm long, and that scales with the strip.

How to open the files

• Cricut Design Space: choose Upload, pick the SVG, and add it to the canvas. Set the width you want; the shape is already welded.
• Silhouette Studio: Designer Edition and above open the SVG. The free Basic Edition does not, so open the DXF instead.
• LightBurn, xTool Creative Space and Glowforge: import the SVG, then set the layer to cut, score or engrave.
• Inkscape, Illustrator and Affinity: open the SVG. It is a plain filled path, so you can recolour it, add a stroke or combine it with your own work.
• Printing or sublimation: use the PNG, which has a transparent background.

Each design page lists the file’s narrowest part at seven sizes, so you can tell whether it will survive at the size you plan to cut.

Questions