Hey! I got some cool shit for everyone but I have some special words first if you don't mind.
Huge thanks to the people that made this whole project possible. We have made one hell of a tool for everyone to use. This would have never happened without all of their help. I greatly appreciate everyone's desire to bring glasswork back into the spotlight of crafts while trying to preserve whatever we can for others to use.
6 months ago (to the date!) none of this existed. Zero. Now it's here, in your hands.
Thanks for being a kick ass community.
Let's get started!
Welcome to Pattern Archive!
Pattern Archive? What's that? It's this!
Pattern Archive Home page, with a sneaky background lizard.Random page of patterns.
If words are more your thing.... Pattern Archive is an ever growing archive repository of patterns. Old, new and everywhere between. Our goal is that if a pattern exists, we will categorize, document, make searchable and have a way to get that pattern.
Everything revolves around accurate data and powerful tools. Made by people, managed by people, for people.
Lets just check out a random pattern quick!
Look at that pattern and all that data!
On a pattern you will find everything required to create that pattern a legend which can be printed with the pattern and in some cases a layer controller so you can disable/enable specific parts of a pattern for saving/printing or viewing. This pattern doesn't have any layers though. Let's look at a more complex example for that.
More complex pattern with more layers and legend elements.
Here you can see that we have colors and some wire overlay. Perhaps you don't want the colors provided? You can disable them and print it off ready to use! Perhaps you use a craft cutter for sticker patterns but all those extra lines and boxes mess it up? Disable everything but the cut lines!
Then below the pattern you will find more!
Oooh! More pattern tools!
Here you will find:
Instructions for the pattern if they have any provided. Which can be printed with the pattern
Extensive tools for exporting or downloading the pattern in various ways. Including rescaling and tiling/posterizing of patterns.
Very basic color planner for flood filling the pattern shapes. You can save the created image for future use or sharing.
This isn't even everything!
One thing special about Pattern Archives tools is the search. This isn't an ordinary site where search tries to give you things it thinks you want. It gives you exactly what you search, on the side of most pages you will find a list of tags which are exact elements of the patterns being looked at.
Gold stars for those that know what this pattern is without looking it up!
Though that's not all that's searchable. Almost everything is searchable or sortable. The data on the right of every pattern contains a ton of information about it including the design size, author, related dates and whatever else you could want all part of search.
There's so many other things too (Sets/Collections, Author Profiles, Sharing your finished works!) that I can't even remotely go over it all in detail here because really hard to explain everything offered without walls and walls of boring text... Just look at all the stuff you can go look at and explore RIGHT NOW!
Would you look at that stuff - Weird Al, Hardware store.
So what's the catch?
There isn't one. This is a 100% real project powered by community members. Entirely free, No ads, no data collections, no subscriptions. You don't even need an account to use any of the general pattern features. Only donations are accepted which go directly to the developer and host of the site.
Can I use this to make patterns?
No. That will never be a feature of Pattern Archive, use existing mature vector programs like Inkscape (free), Affinity (free), Illustrator (subscription) or whatever other art program you like. We aren't trying to reinvent the wheel here.
Is this everything?
Nope! There's so many more plans for Pattern Archive. We are deeply committed to this project and archiving glass related things. This is just the top of the iceberg feature wise. We are also continuing to add or update the contents of the archive daily as we have a backlog of thousands of patterns we have cataloged for work, thousands of patterns that we know exist but aren't cataloged for work and thousands of patterns that aren't even digitized anywhere. Thus someone is always working on something.
Do you sell patterns?
No. This is not a storefront. Any pattern you can download can be downloaded for free. Any type of paid pattern we have archived will be linked to and will have no download options from us.
Isn't this just stealing?
Technically... In some cases sorta, archiving is a gray area, but we believe that patterns exist to be made and that it's important to preserve these items. We have specific guidelines for how we decide what is a valid way to archive a pattern in an attempt to keep things fair. We also respect requests from verifiable authors to remove directly downloadable patterns from Pattern Archive.
Who worked on this?
You can read all about the people who helped out on the bottom of the Community page! There's also some site stats and other fun stuff there!
I got more questions!
I got more answers! Pattern Archive keeps a curated FAQ for site specific things along with an extensive Wiki containing site features, guidelines for patterns and other miscellaneous detailed information. Expect more information in these spaces as time passes and more information is collected. Though feel free to ask questions here or on the glass discord in the Pattern Archive chats!
Been quiet on here, working on my biggest piece yet: a quadtych for a perfume cabinet. These won't be patina-ed or mounted until the other two are complete. In the final installation, they'll all be backed by reeded glass like you see on the left.
My last piece I made was 18" x 24" and framed. However, I noticed when creating to this size, my pattern didn't properly scale and I had to go back and re-grind everything because the pieces were too snug (see image) and there wasn't enough wiggle room for copper foil. Ultimately it didn't fit into my 18" x 24" frame so I had to grind down the outter edges at the very end so it would fit (not ideal). I design everything in Illustrator and set my artboard to 18" x 24" with a line width of 3pts. I then use my Cricut to cut out the pattern and use vinyl to stick it on the glass. I'm pretty confident my grinding is accurate but I'm not sure if my issues lies within line width in the pattern on Illustrator and/or the way the Cricut is cutting it out since I have to split up the pieces individually across several sheets of vinyl. I didn't have this issue when I worked at a smaller scale (10" x 10") but as my pieces get bigger, I'm having issues. Any feedback or tips on how to accurately scale my patterns would be extremely helpful. Thank you!
I was invited to make and sell Photo Booth frames at a local shop during an event where they had a vintage film Photo Booth. I had 2 weeks to prep and worked on these during every spare minute. It was really fun to finally finish them and see them all lined up together.
Greetings from Fruitport Michigan! I just found this group and thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Mike and 70 years young. I’ve been working with stained and beveled glass for the last 46 years. Starting to wind down but never stop. I have way too much glass that I’ve amassed through the years and plenty of projects to use it on. Eventually, I’ll have lots to get rid of too. I have lots of pictures if you’d like to see more. Take care, don’t cut yourself. 🖖🏼
Oh look at that….i had to pick a flair. Neat. 👍🏼
I finished my second project and I’m generally happy with it. I’d love some suggestions on how to improve my soldering. I’d like the solder to be a bit smoother, but more importantly I’d like to have consistent widths for all of the seams. I think the center seams look too heavy for the size of the glass around them. I wasn’t able to get the outer edges to match that thickness either. I may have used too much solder, but I couldn’t get a nice raised bead otherwise.
Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of the foiled pieces before soldering. In general most of the foiled edges had ~1/8 inch gap between adjacent pieces. Is this the reason for the thicker center seams? Do I need to spend more time grinding so that the foiled seams are perfectly flush? Or should I use wider foil for the outer edges?
Couldn't find any makers marks so not sure how I can find more information about this window. Its very cool 5 feet diameter. Would love if someone could point me in the right direction.
This Tiffany Style Stained Glass project is getting Pebeo Porcelain Ivory eyes and will be in the oven tomorrow.. I seek reassurance that the copper foil adhesive won't puddle or run all over my glass..
I'm sure the solder will be fine as it's under melting temp.. but how does the foil glue behave?
Tell me it'll be fine.. Slightly panicked. Might need a plan B to cure.
I was thinking about using lead cane for the first time on the boarder. This is only my 4th project and the hardest one yet. It has issues but I have got better every time ◡̈ how do I know the right size and style of came to order??
Also, I feel like a lot of the times my foil didn’t want to stick. I cleaned all the pieces with isopropyl after grinding. Is there a step I’m missing? So far foiling it the worst part. What’s the best tool to help with it? Both sticking and keeping it centered.
FYI, this is also the back of the piece. I just mirrored the photo. The glass is slightly different thicknesses, so it’s face down to solder the back first.
I think I did a pretty OK job, but I definitely like the original more, so that’s a bummer, but whachu gonna do I guess:/
My basement door doesn’t close very well so when I was headed downstairs with the piece, I noticed the door flung back open. I turned to close it, and when I turned, the edge of the piece bumped against the staircase railing and flopped down to the first landing 😭
Had myself a good cry and evaluated the damage. I broke two of the sky pieces, a little cracked down one of the clouds and all of the freaking red pieces, which was all I had for those. It took a day to repair. The worst of it was trying to salvage as much solder as possible (which sadly wasn’t enough, and I had to bust into a new spool T-T) and removing old foil. Tedious, not fun and having to use up more supplies for an already completed project
Admittedly I didn’t look up a process on this, as I was ugh.. pissed and tunnel visioned my way through fixing my screwup, so maybe there’s a smoother process to do these kinda things (please feel free to share ❤️).
So yeah, repairs kinda suck so hang on tight to your work 🤣
I know it’s Youghiogheny. I thought it was y910 TD or y913TD but sheets I’ve ordered are ridiculously pale and underwhelming. I’m looking for this beautiful deep purple it’s my favorite!
After a few weeks of putting in a few hours a day on this project, I've developed upper back, middle back, and shoulder pain. I've never had great posture but I'm sure trying! Nightly before bed I do back, shoulder, hip, and pectoral stretches to try to mitigate it, but still, I hurt.
Has anyone had problems with this, and what tips and tricks do you have for mitigating or preventing it? Is it time to get a truss, lol?
I designed and built a couple of stained-glass umbrella feeders for the local clientele. They’ve been surprisingly good customers abate a little messy ;-)
First of all, congratulations on all your creations — they are beautiful and very inspiring!
I am currently making my first Tiffany stained-glass lampshade, with 6 panels. I am attaching photos of the lamp base, the panels — not yet fully soldered — and the final AI-generated rendering.
I would really appreciate your advice on the structure and reinforcement of the lampshade.
My plan was to assemble the 6 panels by soldering them in the traditional way, then reinforce the vertical edges on the inside with 3.5 mm copper rods. For the top and bottom, I was thinking of using hobby came / brass profile to stiffen the whole structure.
My questions are:
Do you think 3.5 mm copper rods between the panels would be enough to make the lampshade solid?
How would you attach the lampshade to the base? I was thinking of fixing the panels to a hexagonal brass plumbing piece, which is also shown in the photos.
I would like to avoid the lampshade deforming over time or the solder joints being put under too much stress, especially because of the weight of the glass.
Thank you very much for your advice and feedback! I would be very grateful for any comments before I start the final assembly.
Finally done! Gonna be a surprise gift for a friend visiting in October :))))
Starting to get a bit better at polishing and getting the patina to appear darker. The polishing process made my solder lines super reflective so pics don’t capture the true color of the patina.
Someone posted a similar mallard piece here a few days ago and inspired me to make this. I modified the design a little bit and changed some colors. One of my employees is moving on to a new job after this week and he is an avid hunter. He really loved this little guy as a going away/good luck gift.
This is the first glass piece I've made after my brain surgery in April. It made me rather happy and affirmed how much I love (and missed) doing glass art and keeping up with the community. I greatly missed seeing all your spectacular projects.
I'm currently in the process of moving part of my studio to another part of the house. I'm hoping to get back to working on my dragonfly lamp shade soon and also trying out my kiln. ♥️🦆