Free polka dot SVG patterns

Dots on, or dots out

There are two ways to make a polka dot surface, and this set has files for both. The loose patterns are the dots themselves: cut them in vinyl, weed away the sheet around them, and carry the whole grid over on transfer tape so the spacing stays true. Small dots lift off the backing easily, so burnish the tape well and peel it back flat.

The heart, the circle, the panel and the frame are the other way round: one solid piece with round holes. Use those for card, felt, wood and acrylic, or as stencils. Punching holes also wastes no time on weeding, because the dots simply fall out.

Picking a scale and filling a shape

Dot size changes the mood more than anything else. The small 3 mm pin dots read as a texture, the 9 mm classic as a pattern, and the large 19 mm dots as a bold graphic. Each design page lists its smallest dot at seven sizes, so you can check it before scaling down: under about 2 mm a dot is hard to weed and hard to keep stuck.

To fill a word or a shape, lay a loose pattern over it and use Slice in Cricut Design Space or Intersect in Silhouette Studio or Inkscape. The edge of the shape will cut through some dots. If you would sooner keep every dot whole, delete the dots that cross the edge before you slice.

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