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Sewing Patterns for Juggling
Sewing Patterns for Jugglers
This booklet is a collection of experimental juggling ball sewing patterns that were
generated using a combination of Kaleidotile (http://www.geometrygames.org/KaleidoTile/index.html), Plate-n’-Sheet (a demo of which can be found on http://www.rlcad.com.au/),
AutoCAD, and of course, Dave Barnes’ famous Barnesy Bags how-to. Feel free to
try out these patterns and make your own set of juggling balls!
My interested in this project began with an attempt to sew 14 sand-filled suedette 100g beanbags. They are now finished, and feel very nice but I am never ever making them again =P. They have since been christened ‘Sandays’ – Peter Bone has tried them out but thought they were a bit too heavy for 11 =). I soon became obsessed with how to generate a perfectly spherical shape using fabric. I’ve tried the patterns for the 4-panels and the cube (Fergie bags = juggler object lust), and they work well. It may take a few tries to get it right though, so don’t be discouraged if your creations don’t quite look ball-like, or if the seams burst…you’ll get the hang of it very quickly. Be sure to check out the Barnesy Bags how-to (http://www.jugglingdb.com/compendium/skills/equipment/making/balls/barnesybags.html) for tips on sewing and fabric selection!
This small selection includes patterns for 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 panel beanbags based on
a lemon-shaped template; 6, 8, 10, 12 and 16 panel patterns based on a
triangular-shaped template, and various polyhedral patterns: the tetrahedron,
cube, dodecahedron, icosahedron, truncated tetrahedron, and cuboctahedron. Each
pattern is labelled according to the approximate diameter of the finished ball,
along with the number of panels you have to cut out to finish one ball. Each
pattern is available in at least 2 different sizes.
This booklet is a work-in-progress, so please don’t hesitate to send me any comments or suggestions that you may have. Happy Sewing!
Some sample images:
