Belly Dance - X-Men's Storm

I am taking belly dancing, and it is a lot of fun! Our recital is coming up, and the theme has been established: Super Heroes.

At the beginning of the class, we were asked to purchase veils, as we would need them for the choreography. I found a white silk one that looks great! About half way through the course we were told about the super hero theme. For the rest of the rehearsal, all I could think of was how much my white veil looked like Storm's cape.

Thus, my concept of Storm as a belly dance outfit was conceived! I found some white velvet-like fabric in my collection, and made a belt that I could attach my coin belt to. Keeping things versatile here!

But to make this a Storm outfit, it would need some X-Men accessories! I made a design out of fimo that I could attach to pin backs and attach temporarily to my outfit.

I made what is called a "cane". The image goes all the way through the cane, and you slice off pieces that you can either attach to another piece of fimo, or use them as is.

I rolled out my gold Fimo into a long flat strip, and cut that strip into four equal pieces. These will become the gold X in the middle of the cane.

I stood the X up on my work surface. 

Next, I rolled out some black Fimo and cut that into strips, layering them around the gold of the X. Then I rolled out a snake of red, pinched it into a triangle snake, and cut that into four pieces. I wedged the red triangles in.

I then put a little bit more black around to completely enclose the red parts. I left the ends of the gold X open. 

Then, I rolled out gold Fimo and wrapped it around the whole thing. My cane is finished! You can see that the image goes all the way through. 

I have to roll it down a little to compress all the fimo into a solid shape. There were gaps of air in it between the layers of colour, and that needed to be squished out. Once I had it rolled down to the size I needed, I cut slices off, like you would with a cinnamon bun. You want to roll it as you cut so you don't end up with a flat side.

They are ready to bake. I followed the instructions on the package, as different polymer clay brands have different instructions. Some bake at lower temperatures, or need to go in longer. If you bake them too long, you run the risk of burning them, which can release toxic fumes into the house. I don't feel like breathing toxic fumes. 

So that is how to make a cane out of fimo! This works with any polymer clay, and as you get good at it, you can make almost anything! My Mom made fimo beads for years, and has made some amazing images, including a tiger's face. 

Once they are baked, I used hot glue to attach pin backs. Once our recital is over, I should have pictures of the finished outfit to share!