How to Make a Rose Cane | Floral Pattern Mix Cane part 3

In this post I’m sharing how to make a rose cane with polymer clay. This is the third of a four part series building up to a floral pattern mix cane.

Polymer clay rose canes can vary from simple designs to highly realistic ones. In this post, you’ll learn how to make a rose cane that is easy to create and complements the other cane elements we’ll be crafting for a floral pattern mix cane if you are following the series. The first two components are a simple flower cane and a basic leaf cane.

If you’re not interested in making the larger pattern mix cane, that’s fine. This polymer clay rose cane can be used in many other ways. Incorporate it as an element in a different floral cane. Make the rose with translucent background clay and use slices for slab designs. You can also use single slices to create small stud earrings.

For those following along to create the larger pattern mix cane, I suggest saving the final reduction of the individual components until you’re ready to assemble the larger cane. This way, if you’re building the components over an extended period, all the pieces will have a similar consistency when combined. This helps prevent distortion caused by softer clay moving faster than firmer clay.

I’ve listed the clay colors I used in the materials section, but feel free to choose your own shades. I chose to keep the final pattern simple by using the same three colors for all components, along with a consistent background color. However, you can mix it up by using different colors for each part, as long as you maintain the same background color when constructing each smaller cane.

Gather your supplies listed below and get ready to learn how to make a rose cane.

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.
• Polymer clay — I used Fimo Soft colors in Pink Grapefruit, White, Peppermint, and Indian Red 
• Polymer clay blade
• Acrylic rod
• Wooden skewer 

Directions | How to Make a Rose Cane

Start by conditioning the White and Pink Grapefruit polymer clay colors. For this cane I used 1/4 block (1/2 ounce) of each. Make a skinner blend with the two colors and finish by sheeting the blend on a medium setting (no.3 on my Atlas.)

Fold the blend into quarters. Using the thickest setting on the pasta machine (no.0) feed one of the narrow ends through the machine first. Continue to feed the blend through the machine on progressively thinner settings until you have a long, thin ribbon of clay. I went to setting no.8 on my machine.

Make a plug with the ribbon of clay by folding it back and forth in an accordion style. Take care to trap as little air as possible as you are doing so. Push in the corners of the plug to make it round.

Condition a piece of the Indian Red clay and sheet it on the no.6 setting. Wrap the plug with the sheet of clay.

Flatten the plug slightly keeping the lighter clay on one side and the darker on the other. Stretch it out until you have at least 9” in length and it narrows along the length. Use an acrylic rod to flatten it out a little more. This will also give you a bit more length.

Cut the length of clay into 1” pieces. Shape each piece by gently pinching the sides to narrow them.

Starting with the smallest piece for the center of the rose roll it up like a tiny jelly roll. The darker side should be on the inside of the roll.

Take the next smallest piece and place it so it completely covers the join in the roll. Again, take care to place the darker side towards the inside.

Continue to wrap the petal pieces in the same manner as above until they’re all used.

Press a shallow indentation into the middle of each of the outside petals with a wooden skewer.

Condition a piece of the Peppermint clay and roll thin snakes to place along the indentation in the petals.

Sheet a piece of the Peppermint clay on the thickest pasta machine setting (no.0) and wrap the rose with the clay.

At this point all you need to do is reduce the cane to your desired dimensions. If you are following along to build the Floral Pattern Mix Cane I suggest saving the final reduction until all of your component canes have been built.

If you’ve enjoyed learning how to make a rose cane and give this tutorial a try please tag @bysandracallander on Instagram!

I’ll be back next week with the last instalment of this series. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss the next post! Plus, you’ll a get free PDF tutorial for my Twisted Blends cane which I used to make Clay Covered Pens.

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