Free messy bun SVG files

A head with no face

The messy bun design works because it leaves the face out. All you see is hair scraped up into a knot, its ends sticking out, and a pair of sunglasses, and anyone who has done the school run in a hurry recognises herself. The front views here follow that pattern. The arms of the sunglasses run into the hair at both temples, so the head and the glasses come off the mat as a single piece and stay lined up.

The lips, where a design has them, are a small separate piece. Leave them off for a plainer look or cut them in red.

Sizes, strands and adding words

The pointed ends and loose hairs are what make the bun look messy, and with the tendrils by the ears they are also the finest parts: the tendrils thin to a tip about 1.2 mm across when the head is 100 mm tall. For a shirt, where the design is usually 200 mm or more, that is no trouble at all. For a tumbler or a car decal, keep the head at 75 mm tall or more and press the fine ends down well. Most people add a few words underneath in their own software; leave a gap of about a tenth of the height between the tendrils and the first line.

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