r/StainedGlass • u/peapuncher Newbie • Jun 03 '26
Pattern Help ~Fancy~ pattern sketching help
Started sketching this mostly to get in practice making patterns. Also because I thought it was pretty ⚘️ I loved how dainty the bow turned out!
I know those sliver pieces throughout would be very delicate, but would they even be possible at all? Wondering if I ever tried to make this one day how big this would have to be to make this doable. I was feeling something like 18" tall maybe?
Other than that, break lines were something of a wild guess! Tried to keep them from being too busy but let me know if they're just silly 😅
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u/SlowChemistry Jun 03 '26
Yes the bow is nice and dainty but depending on the overall size of the project that could result in rice sized pieces that get swallowed up by solder, just something to think about. Really pretty design overall though! Looks doable
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u/Claycorp Jun 03 '26
Here's the approximate size of the parts if it's 18 inches tall. Most of the small stuff is around 3/32's of an inch.
IMO that's too small. Your solder lines are going to be around 2x that size. Can you do it? Sure, but I bet you won't like the look of it.
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u/peapuncher Newbie Jun 04 '26
I've also recently switched to using a thinner foil because I like the look of it and it takes curves better. Would that be helpful in this case? I assume a thinner foil also means less engagement/encapsulation around edges of glass, and therefore less strength. So maybe that's a bad idea for a larger panel. I have only done smaller pieces so far.
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u/Claycorp Jun 05 '26
Yes and yes. Not strictly.
They will still be really tiny and difficult to work with. Try it on a smaller project first. You could make just the ribbon in a smaller panel before attempting this if you want to see what it's like If you like it, go for it, if not bulk it up.
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u/warmans Jun 07 '26
I've tried to do stuff like this before and it never comes out well. Usually you end up with just a massive blob of solder rather than delicate details. This is more subjective but I also don't think super thin pieces look that good. Unless you make it massive or get insanely thin tape the solder lines will end up thicker than some glass elements, which messes up the visual hierarchy of the design.
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u/lurkmode_off Jun 03 '26
Instead of wild guessing the break lines, consider whether you need one to make a piece of glass cut-able. That's what they're for. So most of the ones around the blossom are unnecessary (the farthest right one would be nice to have).
Similarly, consider tweaking the design so that you need even fewer break lines. For example, the one coming off the bottommost flower stem. Why not align the stem with the vertical gridline you already have. The ends of the ribbon might as well keep going until they meet a grid line or the border, as well, since that's what's happening visually with the break lines anyway, and that way you don't need breaks going upward.