‘Squiggles’ Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane Tutorial

Learn how to make a polymer clay kaleidoscope cane using a simple polymer clay skinner blend.

Polymer clay kaleidoscope canes were the first canes to really capture my attention when I began working with polymer clay. I was fascinated with how a single patterned triangle could become a complex, repeating pattern by cutting it in half and piecing it together over and over.

Made into square, hexagon, or round shapes, polymer clay kaleidoscope canes can start relatively simple, with just a couple colors and a simple component. Or, they can be amazingly complex, full of color with multiple design elements.

For this polymer clay kaleidoscope cane tutorial, we’re keeping it on the simple side with just a single two colour polymer clay skinner blend and a background color.

Squiggles Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane

What I like most about this cane is that it’s going to have a little different outcome for everyone. Not only because of differing color choices but also because of the different ways each of us will “squiggle” the skinner blend. 

That’s the beauty of this cane. Your cane design will be uniquely yours. Heck, I’ve made this polymer clay kaleidoscope cane a few times and each time it comes out a different.

RELATED POST: HOW TO MAKE A POLYMER CLAY SKINNER BLEND

Choose your colors carefully. There should be a good contrast between the skinner blend and the background color for the squiggle to really pop. Additionally, there should be a good contrast between the skinner blend colors. 

I’ve gone with plain old white for my lightest color in the blend along with an electric lime. This blend contrasts nicely with the darker teal of the background.

Be sure to pack the background clay well, with as little gaps as possible for smoother and rounder squiggles. The less tightly packed the clay is the more likely you’ll have jagged looking squiggles.

Keeping that in mind, this is an easy cane for anyone to do with even just a little polymer clay cane experience.

Tools & Materials

• Non-porous work surface (I work on either glazed tile or glass)
• Pasta machine dedicated to polymer clay use (I use an Atlas 180 and will refer to the settings I use on my machine. If you don’t have a pasta machine an acrylic roller and some playing cards will do in a pinch, it’ll just take a little more work.)
• Three colors of polymer clay — I used a bit less than a 2oz block of clay for the background color & 1 oz each (1/2 block) for the skinner blend colors. See color recipes below for exactly what I used
• Sharp polymer clay blade  
• Acrylic rod

Directions for Squiggles Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane

Polymer Clay Skinner Blend

Condition the two skinner blend colors separately and finish by sheeting them on a medium setting (no.3 on my Atlas). Aim to end up with similarly sized rectangles of clay or trim to shape.

Cut the rectangles into offset triangles and stack them as shown. Butt the angled edges together. Fold in half bringing the bottom up to the top. 

Place the folded edge against the pasta machine rollers and pass through on the thickest setting (no.0). Pass through the machine again on a medium thick setting (no.2) and then carry on folding and passing through the machine until blended to your liking.

Optional: Measure the blended sheet of clay and cut off one quarter. Fold the quarter in half lengthwise and pass through the pasta machine on the no.2 setting and continue with thinner and thinner settings until you reach no.7 or 8. Roll the resulting ribbon into a cylinder, starting with the darker color for the center.

Fold the remaining sheet into thirds with the darker color at one end and the lighter color at the other end. Pinch one end so it feeds into the pasta machine easily and run through on the thickest setting.

Continue passing through the machine on thinner and thinner settings until you reach no.7 or 8. You should now have a long, thin ribbon of clay that is darker at one end. Make a skinner plug by folding the ribbon up in an accordion fold, approximately one inch wide.

Flatten and stretch the skinner plug out, keeping it about 1’ to 1.5” wide and making it as thick as double the thickest setting on your pasta machine.

Building the Squiggle

Condition the background clay. Roll a piece out to a thinner setting (no.6). It should be a little longer and wider than the stretched skinner blend plug. Lay the skinner plug, lightest side against the background clay, and pass it through the pasta machine on the thickest setting without trimming the darker clay first.*

Trim off the excess background clay and cut in half.

Optional: Roll the cylinder of clay out to varying diameters and place pieces randomly along one of the halves. Squish the thicker pieces into thinner oval shapes.

Place the two halves of the skinner blend together with the background clay on the outside. Trim the ends if needed and pinch to make thinner for ease of rolling up.

Roll out snakes of the background clay and begin making the squiggle. Use smaller snakes on the pinched ends and larger one towards the middle. Shape the snakes as needed into teardrop and triangle shapes as you twist and turn the blend.

Form the squiggle into a rough triangular shape. Fill in any empty spaces with background clay to smooth out the triangle. Place triangle shapes at the corners to keep the rounded squiggle from being forced into a corner.

We’re aiming for a right triangle but if it’s more equilateral at this point that’s okay, we’ll shape it up during the reducing process.

Reducing the Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane

Reduce the triangle and stretch it out until it’s about 3” in length. Cut in half.

RELATED POST: FIVE ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR POLYMER CLAY CANES FOR BEGINNERS

Pair the halves of the triangle together. The background clay should have thinned out enough that you can see the squiggle color underneath. As you’re placing the halves together, make sure those lines are paired up nicely.

Reduce the square, keeping the corners sharp, until the cane it about 6” in length. Trim off the ugly bits on the ends and stretch the clay a little more if needed to reach 6”.

Cut in half and pair together, keeping the lines paired neatly. 

Cut in half again and make into a square.

Continue to reduce to cane to make sure all the parts are joined together. Work from the center of the cane to the ends to squeeze out any trapped air.

Once you’ve reached the size you desire—I stopped at 1” wide—cut into the cane to admire your work. 

And then let it rest for at least a few hours to firm up before using.

Color Recipes

Brand: Fimo Professional

Teal (background color)

• 7.75 parts True Blue
• 0.25 parts True Yellow

Electric Lime

• 2 parts White
• 1.75 parts True Yellow
• 0.25 parts True Blue

Notes

*I gleaned this tip from a Donna Kato YouTube tutorial and it’s brilliant! Before I learned this my thinner sheets of clay would always appear to shrink. By trimming the clay afterwards means full coverage of the thinner sheet.

The optional part: I like the weird blobby bits in the skinner blend but they got a bit lost in the final cane once reduced. I will experiment with this some more by adding a bit more contrast. You may want to start out with adding more contrast to the skinner blend cylinder piece or simply leave it out all together.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Squiggles Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane Tutorial! Let me know if you try it out.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, I’m happy to hear from you.