by Joyce Sullivan - Harmony Stained Glass

Sticky Back Paper is the easiest and most accurate way to transfer patterns to glass. By cutting around the actual pattern piece on Sticky Back Paper, instead of tracing with a sharpie, you never waiver from the exact size and shape for your glass.

THE REASONS I LIKE STICKY-BACK PAPER:

- Sticky Back gives much greater accuracy in cutting glass
- The paper gives you a slightly raised edge to score against
- You leave the sticky paper on while you grind which speeds grinding because you know exactly where the glass is supposed to be
- Unlike a Sharpie, the paper doesn't rinse away while you grind
- If your design will fit on 8.5"x11", you can use a copier or printer to get your pattern on the Sticky-Back Paper
- No tape or glue or spray adhesive gooey mess to deal with
- Sticks better and less expensive than PresStick
- I don't like tracing around pattern pieces with a Sharpie!

THE METHOD IN GREAT DETAIL:

1. Tape sticky-back paper down to a table. If you need a larger size, simply tape the Sticky-Back Paper together. Butt the edges, don't overlap and put masking tape on the front side entire seam.
2. Lay carbon paper over it.
3. Tape building copy of pattern over carbon paper. Trace the design.
4. Remember to number, identify the color of glass and indicate the "grain" on each piece before you remove the original from the Sticky-Back Paper. 5. If you want to conserve the original pattern, lay a piece of vellum over the original design before you start tracing. You'll use the vellum for construction and save your original.
6. Cut out the Sticky-Back Paper with pattern shears.
7. Position all your pattern pieces on the glass. After you have them where you want them, peel off the backing and stick each one down. Start cutting. You still want to score and break the large and difficult pieces first so that you can move pieces around if you have a bad break.
8. When you grind, grind UP TO the pattern paper. If you ruffle the edge of the pattern paper, you're grinding too much.
9. After you have ground, lay your pieces on the pattern to check the fit. Leave the Sticky-Back Paper in place. Having the pattern still on the glass will help you identify places that still need grinding.
10. Once you are satisfied with the fit, you need to remove the Sticky-Back Paper.
Simply soak the glass pieces in cool water for about five minutes. I use a plastic washbasin. Put the pieces in the water upside down with the Sticky-Back Paper under the glass. This will keep the pattern paper from floating away when they soak loose.
Put the large pieces in first as they take longer to soak. Put the small pieces on top so they are easy to get out. As you remove each piece, rub off the pattern paper and dry the glass. Be sure to clean the grinder dust off the edges as you dry. Write the number on the glass and lay it on your building pattern.