Fimo tutorial: patterned clay sheets

Here is a quick tutorial to make patterned fimo sheets. These sheets can then be cut with cookie cutters, for example, to make shapes or lentils. Here is how it may look:

 Making this is very simple. And totally logical and instinctive (but I’m still writing a tutorial, I love that). Here is what you have to do:

. choosing a colour for your sheet (this will be the “background” of our patterns) and flattening matching clay with a rolling pin. Keep in mind your sheet will have to be flattened again to insert the patterns so don’t make it too flat at first!

. cutting slices from the cane you want to use for the patterns. You can use a cutter, razor blade or “fimo blades” sold  in DIY shops. The slices have to be as thin as possible. The thicker they are, the more they will “spread” on the background colour.

. arranging the slices on your background . Better let some space between them as they are likely to spread a little, as stated earlier.

. placing cling film on the clay sheet and using a rolling pin to integrate the patterns inside the background. Roll from left to right once and from top to bottom once… or the other way round, up to you, but anyway don’t always roll in the same direction as it’ll deform the patterns.

 (No comments about the silver powder tube I used as a rolling pin, I had lost the real one)

. Keep on using the rolling pin until the patterns are totally incorporated into the background (you can check that by moving your clay sheet in the light, you shouldn’t see any line between background and patterns). You can also use a pasta machine. Still the same, roll once in one direction, once in another not to deform the patterns.

Here we are, no demarcation line between our background and patterns! The only thing we have to do now is decide how to use the patterned sheet J