Category: Sewing

Candle Flicker LED Hair Bow

Make a twinkling accent for your updo! This tutorial will teach you to make a ribbon bow and simple LED circuit. One Adafruit LED Sewing Kit has enough supplies for two bows, so make this project with a friend! The included LEDs contain a tiny chip that flickers the LEDs to simulate a candle’s glow, so all we have to do is power them up!

Before beginning this project, check out my LED Sewing Kit guide!

Tools & Supplies

For this project you will need:

  • LED Sewing Kit with candle flicker LEDs
  • 28-inch piece of 2.25″ wide pewter grosgrain ribbon
  • Small piece of trim/ribbon or colorful ribbon cable
  • Small piece of heat shrink tubing
  • Hair clip

Tools:

  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun (keep a bowl of ice water nearby for burns)
  • Pliers
  • Permanent marker
  • Standard cotton/poly thread
  • Lighter (or wood burning tool/old soldering iron)
  • Clear nail polish
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10 Tips for Conductive Thread

I prefer to work with stainless steel conductive thread. It’s thin, strong, and smooth.

It’s thicker than normal sewing thread, but thin enough to be sewn by hand in medium-eye needles or in the bobbin of a sewing machine that can handle ‘heavy’ thread. Because it is strong and smooth, its ideal for any wearable/e-textile project. 2-ply has fairly low resistivity, 16 ohms per foot so you can use it to drive LEDs and other electronic components that use under ~50mA.

3 ply thread has a resistance of 10 ohms per foot for components that use under ~100mA. It is thicker than standard cotton/poly thread and can be used for hand sewing or in industrial sewing machines.

Because it is made of stainless steel fibers, it will not oxidize like silver does: your projects will not ‘stop working’ because of oxidation after a few months and its safe to wash. However, this thread is a little ‘stiff’, it feels a little like ‘waxed thread’ and is not ideal for making iPhone-compatible gloves (use conductive yarn for that instead).

Tools & supplies

You’ll need some conductive thread, scissors, needles, fabric or a garment, a battery pack, and the following:

  • Multimeter
  • Sharp scissors
  • Embroidery hoop
  • Fabric or garment
  • Alligator clips
  • Snaps and other metal fasteners
  • Circuit board components
  • Low viscosity, quick-setting adhesive such as clear nail polish or Starbond
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Resistor Necktie

Construct a basic long necktie with stripes to represent your favorite value of resistor – formal wear inspired by the electronics bench.

Gather materials and tools. There are many free tie patterns available online. I like the Purl Soho print-at-home pattern.

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Plush Knee

my knee sculpture and video

Ouch, My Femoral Condyle!
Synthetic Fiber and Batting, Steel Stand, DVD Video
2009

I’ve completed the plush model of my knee working from my MRI and arthroscopy images, plus anatomical illustrations I found online. It’s capable of dislocating, just like my real knee, and uses elastic to make the ligaments stretch when the joint is bent. It’s my best soft sculpture yet. Still no fibula. The title is “Ouch, my Femoral Condyle,” after the place on my femur where the cartilage was torn.

I made a video to be displayed with the knee, which is a combination of video shots of my knee dislocating combined with MRI animations and arthroscopy stills. Warning: I’ve been told it’s not for the squeamish.

Plush Knee

Related project: Embroidered MRI Slices

Sensor Squid

Sensor Squid Relation Game, by Rebecca Stern and Lisa Tolentino in the Arts, Media and Engineering Program at ASU, 2008

The Reflective Living Group in AME is currently developing a tangible mediated environment designed to facilitate the growth of group creativity between colleagues in a transdisciplinary research workplace. Our initial work in developing playful mediated work environments contributes to a framework for constructing “creativity interventions,” some of the goals of which are to (1) stimulate constructive discourse, (2) strengthen social bonds, and (3) enhance creative output in diverse communities of IT practitioners. Through our multi-user tangible interface in the form of a plush sensor-enabled squid, participants can share media resources and collaborate in a playful and inviting setting.

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Plush Cuttlefish

I made this plush cuttlefish for my niece, who’s 1.5 years old. Her mom’s a marine ecologist, so why not encourage her propensity towards a nautical theme? My sister, brother in-law, and niece travel a lot, so I included a security handle, good for strapping the toy to a backpack or stroller.

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Tyvek Lunch Bag

I made a reusable lunch bag out of a FedEx Tyvek mailing envelope. I modeled it after a paper lunch sack. To keep glue away from our food, I used a sewing machine to do up the seams. Because Tyvek is tear-resistant, the stitches should hold it for many lunches. It should make a great water resistant, reusable alternative to the paper sack. I don’t expect it to last forever, just until I find another free Tyvek envelope.

Tyvek lunch bag

Creative Commons License