A speckled stoneware slab mug with a strip handle, full of coffee on a wooden table, from The Clay Hole paper template
A tapered square speckled stoneware planter in its saucer with a pothos, made from The Clay Hole planter paper templateA small blush pink stoneware keepsake box beside a coffee mug and a book, made from The Clay Hole paper templateAn indigo blue faceted stoneware coffee mug with a square strap handle on linen, made from The Clay Hole paper templateA square stoneware teapot in glossy teal with a cone spout and strap handle, beside a cup, from The Clay Hole paper templateA stoneware origami fox in burnt orange and cream, built from faceted slabs with a Clay Hole paper template

A skill path, built in order, 30 percent off

Beginner to Insane, The Climb Bundle

New: some of these haven’t been built yet

You can download any of them with confidence. So far every template built and every template in progress has come out 100 percent perfect, and the same will likely be true for the rest.

Every template starts out in my New Pattern Program, marked NEW, until someone builds it in clay and it checks out. Each one should be sound and work as drawn, so use them at your own discretion and be ready to adjust on the fly if a project needs it. Pivoting mid-build is part of the fun of pottery.

Members: be the first to show me one fully assembled and I’ll fire that piece free, with your name on its tile for good. See which templates are still up for grabs.

Made one? Text it to the studio or tag @theclayhole on Instagram.

Start with a mug. End with a 93-piece marble run. Every rung teaches one new thing (corners, lids, facets, spouts, drawers that slide), so by the top you've done all of it, in order. Legendary not included.

These eight, and every update to them

When I improve any template in here, the new version joins the download from your order at no charge. New templates go into new bundles, so this one stays exactly what you bought.

  • 8 PDFs
  • 74 pages
  • 33 template sheets
  • Beginner to Insane
  • 1/4 in slab
$73.15$104.50saves $31.35All eight templates in one order, 74 pages, yours to print as often as you like.

Delivered as a download link by email the moment the order goes through. Members get five templates free a month, one at a time: log in.

See every template in it
  • 30 percent off the eight bought one at a time ($104.50 separately).
  • Legendary templates are not in any bundle. Buy three of them and the fourth is free.
  • Not a member yet: see what a membership includes.
The climb, in order

Eight templates, and one new skill on every rung

Build them in this order. Each one leans on what the one before it taught you, so by the last rung none of it is new.

  1. 1Beginner The Slab Mug

    What it teaches: roll an even slab, wrap a wall, score and slip a base and a handle on.

    about 11 oz, 4 3/16 in tall, 3 1/16 in across. $4 on its own.
  2. 2Beginner The Square Planter and Saucer

    What it teaches: corners: four tapered walls meeting true, and a drainage hole.

    3 15/16 in across the top, 3 3/4 in tall, saucer 4 5/8 in square. $5.50 on its own.
  3. 3Intermediate The Lidded Keepsake Box

    What it teaches: a lid that sits on an inner flange.

    3 1/2 in square, 2 5/8 in tall with the lid. $8 on its own.
  4. 4Intermediate The Diamond Mug

    What it teaches: facets: six faceted panels that turn round at the rim.

    about 12 oz with room at the top, 4 1/4 in tall, 3 1/4 in across the rim. $8 on its own.
  5. 5Advanced The Square Teapot

    What it teaches: a cone spout with its landing curve worked out, a flanged lid and a strap handle: every skill so far in one pot.

    about 32 oz, 4 3/8 in square, 4 3/8 in tall with the lid. $12 on its own.
  6. 6Advanced The Origami Fox

    What it teaches: 34 flat facets with bevels at real angles, a form with no straight wall.

    7 5/16 in tall to the ear tips, 5 5/16 in x 5 7/16 in with its tail. $12 on its own.
  7. 7Expert The Spice Drawer Chest

    What it teaches: 38 pieces and five drawers that have to slide, built over two sittings.

    6 1/4 in tall, 7 1/16 in wide at the top, 5 in deep. $25 on its own.
  8. 8Insane The Marble Run Tower

    What it teaches: 93 pieces over four or five sittings, eight channels that must line up for a marble to run.

    16 1/16 in tall, a 4 in tower in an 8 5/8 in tray. $30 on its own.
How a template works

Print, check, roll, cut, build

Print at 100 percent

Actual size, never Fit to page. Plain copy paper works. Card stock survives a wet slab and can be used again.

Measure the square

A ruler on the 1 inch square settles whether the sheet is right. Thirty seconds that saves a whole piece.

Roll 1/4 in

Every clearance assumes it. Let the slab firm up to soft leather hard before you cut, so it holds an edge and still bends.

Cut the count, then build

Lay the paper on the slab, cut straight down just outside the edge, bevel where the hatching says, and follow the numbered steps. Score, slip, press, compress, every seam.

More bundles

Other bundles you may love

A few more sets of templates that belong together, each for less than they cost one at a time.

Questions

The ones that come up

Will this bundle get new templates

No, and that is on purpose. These eight belong together and they stay together. When I improve one of them, the update joins your download free. A new idea gets a bundle of its own.

Do I have to build them in order

No. But the order is the point: each rung leans on the one before it, so climbing it in order saves you a few rough first tries.

What arrives

An email with the download link the moment the order goes through: one zip holding all eight PDFs. Each PDF is the whole pack for that piece, with the template sheets, the steps, the notes and the size table.

Do I need a membership to buy this

No. It is $73.15 for anyone. Members get five templates free every month, one at a time, and bundles are full price for everyone.

Can I buy just one

Yes. Every template here has its own page. The bundle is all eight together for 30 percent less.

Which clay

Any of the studio's stoneware. Every template here is drawn for a 1/4 in slab and the sizes assume 12 percent shrinkage. 52 Buff comes out a little bigger, porcelain a little smaller, and each pack carries the table for both.

Can I sell what I make

Yes. The pots are yours. The template files are for your own use and are not to be shared, which is the whole of the terms.

Members

Free templates, every single month

Current members of The Clay Hole pick five templates free every month. Print one tonight and bring it to your next session.

Log in to claim your free onesSee every template

Sent as download links by email the moment the order goes through. Already a member? Log in, and five templates a month are free, one at a time.