Free peek-a-boo SVG files

Where a peek-a-boo design goes

The flat bar under the eyes is the point of the design: it is meant to sit along an edge that is already there. Line it up with the top of a shirt pocket, the top of a name on a bedroom door, the rim of a toy box, the top edge of a picture frame or the lid of a lunch box, and the child seems to be looking out from behind it.

Each file is about 100 mm wide, which is a good size for a pocket on an adult shirt or the front of a tote bag. For a child’s pocket, scale it to 60 or 70 mm. The finest cuts are the eyelashes on the girls, which are 1.5 mm wide when the file is 100 mm wide and so under 1 mm at 60 mm. For anything that small, use the baby with one curl or the boy with a quiff, which have no lashes.

Cutting and colour

Every design is a single piece: the pupils are left joined to the rims of the eyes, and the fringe, the headband and the line under the cap are slits that stop short of the edge. Nothing falls out but the windows of the eyes, the lines between the fingers and those slits, so there is little to weed.

Cut it from any one colour. Black on a light shirt is the usual choice; brown, navy or a deep plum look softer. To make it a likeness, cut the same file twice, in a hair colour and a skin colour, keep the hair and bow from one and the face and fingers from the other, and lay them together along the fringe 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