ckcowl

i have this same circle cutter- have had it for gosh--8 or 9 years i would guess- it works great for me- i love it & always pull it out when i'm doing circles- i'm not really clear on what you are using or really what you are doing that is causing you a problem- or the template part- i have the clover yo-yo makers which i also love & work great-
but if you have the above mentioned circle cutter & do not know how to use it- visit the website & ask for instructions (if you threw your instruction sheet away that came with the cutter)
if you have something else...
but if you are using some sort of thick template...i would use the template to draw a (thinner) template (like a freezer paper one- or shirt cardboard/card stock) so i could trace around it- or in the case of the freezer paper you can press it to your fabric then use scissors to cut out your circles. (which is how i would cut traced circles.
my only (complaint) about my circle cutter is sometimes i want a really large circle (bigger than it will make-it makes really small circles up to i think 12") when i need a larger circle i do it the way we were taught to draw circles back in gradeschool (in the 60's) tie a piece of string to a pencil- the correct size (1/2 the circle) hold one end of the string (or pin it) in the center of the circle and draw the circle with the pencil on the other end of the string....with this you can make any size circle you want...big or small.