Millefiori Basics

A basic millefiori cane is a layered rod with ends that look like targets.target image by Francois du Plessis from Fotolia.com

The techniques for making millefiori canes from molten glass date back to ancient Rome and Alexandria. Though traditional millefiori glass work requires working at potentially dangerous high temperatures with specialized -- and often expensive -- equipment, any crafter can practice the basics of millefiori using polymer clay and a conventional oven in the safety of her own home. Basic millefiori techniques include cane rolling and combining in close, pattern, concentric, garland and scrambled patterns. Once she masters basic millefiori techniques using clay, a crafter may apply them to more advanced projects including paper weights and beads.

Basic Cane Rolling

All basic millefiori techniques build upon the fundamental skill of cane rolling. To roll a millefiori cane, you will need several colors of Fimo or other polymer clay, a sharp knife and a rolling pin or pasta maker. Take three colors of clay and roll out each one to a width of 1/8 of an inch or thinner. Cut each sheet of color into long strips. Cut the long strips into smaller pieces and roll one piece into a narrow rod. Wrap this rod with a clay strip of a different color, and continue adding pieces until you have a multi-layered cane that looks like a target. Practice rolling canes until the layers of color within the target pattern look even. From here, you may choose to bake the single canes according to the directions that came with your polymer clay or save them and use them later to learn different methods for combining canes.

Take several canes of different sizes and line them up. Take a longer strip of clay and wrap it around these canes to bind them together. Place this larger cane on its side and cut off the ends to even out the heights of the combined canes. You can bake this basic "close millefiori" cane whole or cut it into thin slices to create small coins with a millefiori pattern.

To make pattern millefiori, arrange different colored canes to create lines, rings or repeating geometric patterns.

Concentric millefiori is a subset of pattern millefiori. To create concentric millefiori, align narrow canes in concentric rings around a central cane with a larger diameter. You may alternate colors with each ring or use monochrome "spacer" canes to increase the distance between bands of color.

To create garland millefiori, arrange canes of the same diameter in curved shapes inspired by stems and leaves -- including scrolls, loops and ellipses.

To create scrambled millefiori, arrange canes of various colors and diameters and rub across the tops of the canes to smear and distort their circular ends.