First steps with polymer clay
A little bit of history
Who was the genius that came up with polymer clay?
Well, if you’re in the mood for a little bit of (possibly useless, but definitely interesting) information—keep reading. 😉
According to the internet, one of the earliest forms of polymer clay was invented by Robert Bakelund, who was searching for a synthetic alternative to shellac. Later, during wartime material shortages, polymer clay began to gain popularity as a substitute in doll-making.
The brand—FIMO—was first brought into the spotlight by Maureen “Fifi” Kruse, daughter of the well-known German doll designer Kathe Kruse, back in the early 1940s. “FiMo” is a shortened form of Fifi Mosaic or Fifi Modelliermasse. So yes, polymer clay has actually been around for quite a while—it’s just evolved a lot over the years.
As for me? It took me quite a while to discover it. I’ve been so wrapped up (quite literally) in yarn crafts like knitting and crochet that sculpting just never made it to the top of my to-try list.
Anyway—back to the main topic. I’ve always wanted to try some form of sculpting. At one point, I seriously considered taking pottery lessons. The idea of making a simple bowl or mug with my own hands really appealed to me—it sounded both fun and satisfying. The only challenge? Finding the time to actually attend those lessons.
I also looked into air-drying clay, something I could experiment with at home, but never quite took the plunge. It wasn’t until recently that I became truly intrigued by polymer clay—after seeing online all the beautiful creations people were making with it. That’s when I thought, Okay, this might be my next craft adventure.
Before diving in, I did what most of us do—I binged YouTube tutorials. I wanted to understand the tools, techniques, and how difficult it would really be to get started.
The good news? You don’t need much to begin with polymer clay. Your starter kit can be really simple, especially if you’re just testing the waters.
Luckily, I already had some basic crafting tools at home, so my initial shopping list was short.
I found one beginner-friendly project that didn’t require too many steps or materials, and the result was surprisingly pretty.
What tools you will need
Tools I already had around the house:
– marble chopping board – perfect working surface
– plastic rolling pin
– cookie cutters
– small drills
Shopping list:
– polymer clay
– tissue blade (makes cutting and picking clay up so much easier)
– pasta machine (turns out it’s a must for easy colour blending).
Those are just the very basics you need to get started—and from there, you can gradually add more tools, depending on what you want to create. Since starting, I’ve already added a few more things to my collection: small cookie cutters for shaping, UV resin to give pieces a beautiful glossy finish, and a couple of texture sheets to experiment with different surface designs.
Let the fun begin
Now that I’ve got my basics ready, it’s time to actually start! Very simple, just blending three colours of clay.
I’ve cut three equal pieces
Now the fun really began! I used a pasta machine to blend the colours together until I got the look I wanted. If you don’t have a pasta machine—no problem! A rolling pin works just fine.
The key is to roll the clay in the same direction, fold it in half, and roll it again. Then just repeat the process until the colours blend into a smooth gradient. It’s a quite satisfying to watch the transformation.
The colours start to blend.
Once I was happy with how the colours had blended, I rolled the sheet into a log and then wrapped it in a thin layer of white clay.
I rolled it as tight as I could, making sure there were no air bubbles trapped inside.
After wrapping the blend in white clay, I kept rolling it out thinner and thinner, gently stretching it into a long, even “snake”.
Once the “snake” was ready, I cut it into equal-length pieces. Then came the fun part—arranging them together like a little puzzle.
That was the colour arrangement I was happy with. As you can see, some of the rolls had small holes or gaps in them—most likely from when I first rolled the blended clay and didn’t get it quite tight enough. But honestly, it’s not a big deal. Once everything gets pressed together, those little imperfections usually disappear.
To be continued… 😊
