I’ve been making canes for years. It’s finally time to make them into something! I’ve open a new Esty shop, PolymerBeadWorkshop, where you can get inspiration for all the many ways to make canework beads. The tutorial for this pattern is on my Patreon page.

Here I’ll show one way to make beads with a rectangular, geometric cane. If you had a square cane, like a kaleidoscope or tile, you could do this same thing by putting two side by side to make a rectangle.

If rainbow isn’t your thing, try to imagine this with the most beautiful kaleidoscope canes you’ve seen.

1. Cut a slice and wrap it around a log of clay. It takes some time to get the seam to fit perfectly. You can adjust the size of the log, or press and pull at the slice until the sides come together as smoothly as possible. If the clay is too sticky, let it set. If not, it will stick too soon and you won’t be able to make adjustments.
2. Slowly roll and pull the clay together to cover the log. This takes some practice.
3. Now that the log is covered it can truly be formed into any shape. For the round flat beads or cabs, I roll it into a ball and then flatten in.  Actually for most shapes I form it carefully into a ball before I decide what’s next. However, for this particular design, rectangular or cylindrical seem to be the easiest and most effective.