Letter Q Polymer Clay Alphabet Cane Tutorial

Here is another free step-by-step tutorial as part of a series of articles on making letter canes. Click here for a list of all of the other alphabet canes so far. Today’s letter is actually fairly straightforward to create, even though it’s got a mixture of curves and straight lines. (Spoiler alert: it’s a lot easier to create than the letter “R”!) So here is the Letter “Q” polymer clay alphabet cane:

Step-by-step instructions: Letter “Q” polymer clay alphabet cane

You will need:

Approx. 30g (i.e. half a standard-sized block) of white polymer clay
Approx. 10g (about one sixth of a block) of black polymer clay
Pasta machine or clay roller (examples of pasta machines from Amazon)
Tissue blade (a.k.a. polymer clay slicer blade) (examples of tissue blades from Amazon)

Step 1 – Condition the two colours of clay

Step 1 – Roll out the black clay to a sheet about 1.5mm thick (1/30 inch)

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - sheet of black polymer clay — Sheet of black clay

Step 2 – Cut the white clay in half.

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - cut white clay in half — Cut white clay in half

Step 3 – With one half of the white clay, roll it into a cylinder approximately 25mm (1 inch) in diameter by 25mm tall:

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - make a white cylinder — Roll a white cylinder

Step 4 – Wrap the white cylinder with one layer of the black clay sheet. Trim off any excess black clay:

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - wrap cylinder with black clay — Wrap with black clay

Step 5 – Using the other half of the white clay left over from Step 2, cut that piece in half as well:

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - cut white half in half again — Cut white in half

Step 6 – Take one of the white pieces of clay and roll it through the pasta machine on the thinnest setting, then wrap it around the cane. Trim off any excess white clay:

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - wrap can with thin white clay — Wrap with white

Step 7 – Cut the cane straight down the middle:

Letter Q polymer clay cane - antepenultimate step - KayVincent — Cut down the middle

Step 8 – Insert one layer of the black sheet of clay between the two halves. (The black piece should go from approximately the middle of the cane to the very edge of the cane.) Trim off any excess black clay:

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - insert black clay — Insert black clay

Step 9 – Reassemble the two halves of the cane, trying to ensure that the black lines match up with each other:

Letter Q polymer clay cane - penultimate step - KayVincent — Reassemble the cane

Step 10 – Using the remaining piece of white clay from Step 5, roll it through the pasta machine on the thinnest setting, then wrap the sides of the cane with the white clay. Trim off any excess white:

Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane tutorial - wrap in thin white clay — Wrap with white

Finished Letter Q polymer clay alphabet cane:

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Finally, if you don’t have time to make your own canes at the moment, there are some sites selling canes that are pre-made and ready to use (e.g. here – although sometimes canes for sale may be pre-cooked, so check first…):

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KayLand

The chances are that if I do anything interesting enough to blog about, I'll be too busy doing it to actually blog about it…

Letter Q Polymer Clay Alphabet Cane Tutorial