How to draft a donut pattern for a ball ornament

I used a circle template and a compass to make my pattern but it can easily be done without either. Click here for an explanation of how to draw the pattern without a circle template or compass.

To begin I retrieved the strip of paper I had used to "measure" my ball. I folded it in half,

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then folded it in half again. I adjusted my compass to this length. Photobucket

I could have used ordinary paper to make my pattern but I chose to use freezer paper because, with the aid of a warm iron, I could temporarily stick the pattern to the ultra suede. (I usually use adhesive vinyl when I make reuseable patterns, but I thought the freezer paper would show up better in the photographs.) I creased the freezer paper to divide it into quarters, set the point of the compass at the center and drew my circle. Then I used my circle template to draw a 1 3/4" circle in the center of this circle. I used the circle template again to draw a 2 1/4" circle between the two circles. (If you don't have a circle template you can use a compass or visit this page to learn how to draw the inside circles with strips of paper.)

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After I cut out the circle I was ready to mark the 16 "petals" on the pattern. The circle was already divided into four parts, because of the creases I made before I drew the circles. I lined up the existing folds and made two more folds to divide the circle into eight parts. Then I lined up the existing folds to make four more folds to divide the circle into sixteen parts. It is a bit hard to describe in words but with two fold to go it looked like this.

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And after I made the last fold it looked like this.

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Next I used a ruler and pencil to draw the slits that divided the donut into sixteen petals. Note that the slits stop at the middle circle, 1/4" before the inside circle. Then I drew lines to divide the circle into 16 equal parts and cut out the inside and outside circle.

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Click here to return to the ornament tutorial.



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Pinwheel 2011