A New Tartan Plaid

I met a lady who was volunteering at the World Masters when we were there.  The tartan plaid jewelry we had on display had caught her eye and I explained to her how it was made.  She asked if I could make some pieces that would match her family's tartan and I was glad for the challenge.

She brought in a book with her family history and an old worn Scottish cap or tam.

This happened to be more of a challenge than I expected with the seven colors and larger pattern.  I explained how the lines tend to become a little crooked or wonky when reducing the tartan cane and she felt that would be okay as long as the colors were close and it was similar to the pattern.  I've been working on several methods of reducing the tartan canes without too much distortion and I found that packing it in extra clay (scrap) before reducing helped a fair bit.

I was quite pleased with the overall colors and decided to reduce the cane further so I could create more of a mirrored plaid pattern like in the cap.  By the time I was finished I still had a fair bit of cane to work with but I had a tone of "scrap clay" left over.  Of course when I say scrap clay that doesn't mean it gets thrown out but it can still be used in other ways.

Carol requested a bangle and a tartan "cloth" style pendant each for her and her sister and she was very pleased with how the finished products finally came out:

  

  

One of our neighbors popped in the other day while I was working on this set.  She was totally fascinated by it and asked if I could do something for her if she did some research to find out her family tartan.

A New Wrinkle on Things

    

I've been experimenting with my plaid cane and came up with this set that looks like draped tartan plaid cloth.  I've been thinking about new styles for my earrings and pendants than the same usual round shape.  I had my cane slices laying on my table and it suddenly dawned on me -- why not actually make it look like real cloth?

    

To do this I slice a thicker piece off my cane and smooth it out.  I then texture it to look more like a cloth.  I like to use the mesh bags from veggies but real cloth with a nice open weave also works well.  I just spritz my cane slices with water and place them between a double layer of the mesh and gently apply pressure with my roller.  I then flip it over and do the same for the other side.

I added touches of gold mica powder to the edges and the back of the pendant and the edges of the earrings.  To create the folds or wrinkles, I tuck wads of paper towel underneath for support while baking.

I coated them after with some satin Diamond Flecto Varathane to protect the mica powders from wearing off and to add a nice rich sheen.

I wore my prototype set (below) out the other day and had many looks and positive comments.

Making a Plaid Cane

  

I love all kinds of tartan plaids, especially the ones in rich colors so I've been experimenting with different ways of imitating this warm fabric in my clay.

Here are several online tutorials I've come across on the internet:

Plaid Cane  by Polymer Clay Express

School Spirit Cane by Lisa Clarke at Polka Dot Creations

Violet Tartan Plaid Cane  by  Kro K Do  (in french)

Plaid Cane by Dora's Explorations

I decided to give Dora's cane tutorial a try and I must say I am impressed with how she worked this complicated type of cane out.  I followed her instructions choosing peridot green, olive green and dark red as my three colors.  I really love how it turned out but I found the colors came out a little darker after baking than what I was aiming for.  I also have to agree with Dora that it is very difficult to keep the lines straight while reducing the cane.  I have an idea I want to try for my next attempt and will keep you posted.