Polymer Clay Alphabet Cane Tutorial: Letter E
Here is another free step-by-step tutorial as part of a series of articles on making letter canes with polymer clay. (Click here for a list of all of the other alphabet canes so far.)
One day I’ll develop full tutorials with proper instructions, but in the meantime, here is a basic tutorial for creating a polymer clay cane with a letter “E” design:
Step-by-step instructions: Letter “E” polymer clay alphabet cane
You will need:
- Approx. 30g white polymer clay (i.e. half a standard-sized block of clay)
- Approx. 8g black polymer clay (about one eighth of a standard block of clay).
- Pasta machine or clay roller (here is a link to what to look for if you’re buying a pasta machine for polymer clay use)
- Tissue blade (a.k.a. polymer clay slicer blade)
Step 0: Condition the clay (i.e. run each colour through the pasta machine about ten times, until they become very flexible.)
Step 1: Cut off approximately one third of the white clay, and put it aside for now in order to work with the larger white piece first.
Step 2: Using the larger piece of white clay, roll it into a cylinder about 3cm tall, with a diameter approximately 2.5cm wide.
Step 3: Roll the black clay into a sheet approximately 1.5mm thick. (This is often the middle setting of pasta machines.)
Step 4: Cut off approximately one quarter of the white cylinder from the left side, and keep it aside for later:
Step 5: Cut off the top and bottom of the white cylinder, starting from the end corners of the straight line on the left side:
Step 6: Cover the three straight sides of the cane with one layer of the black sheet of clay. Trim off any excess black clay.
Step 7: Cut the cylinder in half across the middle:
Step 8: Sandwich one layer of the black sheet of clay between the two halves of the cane, but without the black going all the way to the right side of the cane.
Step 9: Reassemble the cane by putting the left, top and bottom pieces back into place.
Step 10: Using the smaller white block of clay that was put aside in Step 1, roll it out on the thinnest setting of the pasta machine, and then wrap it around the outside of the 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…))
Update: Here is a handy one-sheet visual guide to creating the Letter E polymer clay cane:
