If you’ve read any of my other tutorials, you’ve probably seen me talk a lot about using the glue-down technique to transfer a stained glass pattern to glass. However, there are a few other methods you can also use, and I recommend trying them all so you know which one you like best.
I want to share a little story…
One day while my sister was visiting I was working on copper foiling a suncatcher. I asked if she’d like to try a few pieces and she obliged. I showed her how to do it (how I do it) and she attempted to foil her first piece. She struggled a lot. By the second piece, she started doing it a different way. A way that I had never done it, and probably never would, but it worked for her. She foiled the second piece so much faster and more accurately because she did it in a way that felt right to her.
Transferring a stained glass pattern to glass isn’t as innate of a task, but any time there are multiple ways to accomplish something- it’s always best to find the method that works best for you and your work-flow. Stained glass is no different.
There are four different ways you can transfer your stained glass pattern to your glass:
- Cut your pattern out and trace around the pieces with a permanent marker.
- Trace your pattern onto the glass with a permanent marker using a light table if you’re using transparent glass.
- Cut out your printed pattern and glue the pieces to your glass with stick glue.
- Trace over your printed pattern with tracing paper or watercolor paper and glue the pieces to your glass with stick glue.
In this article I’m going to cover these four methods in detail and share how they’ve worked for me.
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Cut and Trace Pattern onto Glass
You’ve most likely seen this method used a lot. This was the way I saw it done, and the way I did it myself for the first few months of making stained glass.
To transfer your stained glass pattern this way, you will:
- Cut out your printed pattern
- Use the cut out pieces as stencils and trace around them using a permanent marker
Since you aren’t gluing your pattern pieces down, you can store them in a zip-loc bag or somewhere safe, and use them again and again.
Personally I wasn’t very fond of this method of storing patterns. I had little plastic baggies everywhere, and for an organization freak with a touch of OCD… it just wasn’t preferable.
However, storing your patterns this way does save you time when you go to recreate the design. This is because a step has already been done. Your stained glass pattern is all cut out and ready to go.
**When using this method you’ll need to cut and grind your glass INSIDE your pattern line since you are tracing AROUND your pattern. This means taking off the permanent marker lines as you work each piece down to size.
One issue you may encounter is your marker lines chipping off or washing away while grinding, removing your reference before you’re done shaping. This can cause you to spend a lot of time fitting your pieces since you’ve lost your “guide” to work from. If this happens, you can use chapstick, a glue stick, or (the cheapest) vaseline to protect your marker lines.
Trace Pattern Using Light Table
This method is great if you’re using wispy or multi-colored glass so that you can see exactly what part of the glass, and the direction, is being used in your design.
In fact, even if you use any of these other methods to get your pattern down perfectly, I would still suggest using a light table for this purpose.
For example, if I’m working with a textured or multi-colored glass and I want a specific part to be in my design, I will lay the glass over my pattern on the light table and roughly outline those pieces. THEN I’ll go back and glue down my cut pieces over the marks I’ve made.
If you would rather just use the method, you’ll need to be more careful and exact when tracing your pattern pieces.
When using this method, it’s important to stand over and look directly down at your glass. This way you’re certain to get the exact shape. Since you’re tracing over your pattern lines, you will cut and grind directly on your line when shaping your pieces.
Keep in mind if you’re using a textured glass, you’ll want to trace down the pattern backwards and on the smooth side of your glass. (That is if you’re wanting the texture to be in the “front.”)
Cut and Glue Pattern to Glass
To do this, you simply cut out all your pattern pieces from your printed pattern and glue them down to your glass using stick glue.
I don’t like using this method because it feels so wasteful. Printer ink isn’t cheap, so the less I have to print, the better. Since you’re cutting your printed pattern, you also should print two so that you can use one as a reference when piecing your project together.
However, I do like how well the paper holds up v.s. something like tracing paper. It’s a thicker paper so you don’t have to worry about it tearing and coming up as much.
Trace Pattern and Glue to Glass
This is the method I typically use for a few reasons:
- I only have to print my pattern once. This is great either way, but especially if it’s a larger pattern that I have to pay to have printed.
- I’m able to store my pattern rolled up if it’s large, or nice and neat in a folder if it’ll fit. And I’m able to use this printed pattern again and again in the future.
- Since I’m tracing over the printed pattern, I can use a few different types of paper. Like tracing paper, and watercolor paper.
- Since it involves gluing down my pieces, I don’t have to worry about perfecting every piece as much which saves time towards the end of my project.
I typically will use 9×12 tracing paper to trace over my pattern. It can be finicky when gluing down, and it doesn’t hold up the best if you’re using a ring saw, but it’s the most cost effective, and the larger 9×12 size allows me to trace more onto one sheet. If my pattern is larger than that, you can simply “piece” it together with multiple pieces of tracing paper.
To combat the paper shriveling up while using the ring saw, I apply a thin layer of vaseline over the entire piece of paper. This keeps the water from getting underneath the paper and lifting it.
This method does require more time on the front-end since you have to trace and glue down your pieces before you can begin cutting. However, through experience I’ve found that it actually saves me more time later on in the project when it’s time to fit all my pieces perfectly.
And there you have it, the four different ways you can transfer your pattern to your glass! Please do try all these methods and see which one(s) you prefer.
Happy creating 🙂
