AWESOME TIPS for Choosing and Prepping Your First Stained Glass Pattern

Hey friends, it's Daisy of Daisy Ring Art. Thanks for popping in. Today's video is going to be all about stained glass patterns. I'm going to walk with you through how to go about obtaining patterns legally, how to choose your first one, and how to prep it for your first project. So this is all going to be very beginner-friendly and quick, so let's just jump right in. Where to get patterns? Well there are a few ways. You can purchase stained glass pattern books or you can purchase individual patterns online from stores like Etsy. You can even find free patterns on reputable websites. I personally have decided not to sell my patterns, not now anyway. There are so many great patterns out there that you can obtain legally. Okay, choosing your first pattern. When you're starting out, choose something simple. Look for patterns with fewer pieces, larger shapes, and curves that are not too tight. I would say avoid really tiny details until you get a little more practice under your belt. The first pattern I ever designed for myself, so the very first piece I ever did, was this simple geometric pattern. And I still use this to this day because I just love it. So if you really want to go beginner-friendly, you can stick with something with all straight lines. Whatever you do, just don't be too ambitious this first time. And finally, preparing the pattern for the project. There are multiple ways you can do this, but first I'm going to share with you what I do and then I'll talk to you about some of the other methods. Once you've chosen your design, you're going to print or copy it to the right size. I always make two copies. One stays whole as my master pattern and then the other is the one that I'll cut into pieces. I recommend printing on a thick cardstock. It makes for much sturdier pattern pieces, easier to trace around, they'll hold up better while you're working, and they can last for multiple uses. I also highly recommend laminating your master pattern or sliding it into a plastic sleeve because when you're working with your grinder, these glass pieces are going to get really wet and a piece of uncoated cardstock is not going to hold up for very long. Now some people use pattern shears or foiling shears when they're cutting their pattern pieces. I personally do not like them at all. What they do is they cut out a little tiny strip in between your pieces, which makes sense because you need to account for a little bit of space for copper foil and your solder, but I find them so awkward to use and I have figured out another way. I prefer to cut the pattern pieces with regular scissors very carefully and then I trace onto my glass with a fine tip sharpie or oil-based marker and when I go to score the glass, I score just slightly to the inside of my trace line. Now I showed this in my previous video about glass cutting so feel free to check that out after this video, but this method just feels more natural for me and you still get the space you need for the foil and the solder lines this way. It works great. Now if you are working with textured glass, remember you have to score the smooth side, meaning that you're going to need to flip your pattern piece over when tracing. That way your texture is going to be on the front of the design as I'm sure you would want it to be. Now to the contrary, if you trace your cut pieces onto the glass and then you score them with your glass cutter on the line or outside the line, you will end up having to do a great deal of grinding for your pattern to fit together well and if it looks like it fits together well at first, you're still going to possibly run into issues after you add copper foil to the edges because that's going to expand the pattern ever so slightly just enough to distort it. Been there, done that, so if you do it my way, just make sure that when you're scoring that you are scoring toward the inside of that line. You're still on the line. You're still to the utmost inside of that line and I'm telling you it makes all the difference in the world. It's one of the most important glass cutting tips that I have ever learned. Be very mindful when you're cutting your cardstock pattern and take your time with this because if you cut your pattern pieces out sloppily, your project will ultimately look sloppy. So go ahead and set the trajectory for neatness by taking your time and cutting these pieces out neatly. So there are other methods for getting your pattern on your glass. You can also print on sticker paper or vellum paper and what you would do is cut it out and if the back doesn't have adhesive on it, you can actually use a glue stick and just stick your pieces straight onto your glass and that way you can just score around them tightly. I've also seen people use a Cricut and it's kind of cool because they're able to print their patterns out and not actually have to cut them. They just use their little tool to like peel it off the paper and then they just place it on the glass and then they can cut right around them. So that's a pretty neat method as well. A pro to doing it that way is that your pattern piece stays put and if you do it my way, you're gonna have to really hold your pattern piece steady while you trace it. Muscle memory is just, it's a thing, you know, and so I've gotten really good at being able to press my pattern piece down really, really snugly and work around that thing without it budging. So if you are going to try the sticker method, make sure that you use paper that can hold up to water because once you cut your piece out, you're and if you use regular paper, the paper is just going to get all pulpy and just start to disintegrate on you. So you're going to need to go with something that's waterproof. Each method has its pros and cons, so you just have to do what feels right for you. Keep it simple. Enjoy the process. Don't worry about perfection. It's all part of learning, so just have fun. If you found this video helpful, please like and subscribe and I look forward to seeing you guys in my next video. Bye!