The Future of Wearable Tech – PBS Off Book
I was interviewed for this video: The Future of Wearable Technology – PBS Off Book
Sparkle Skirt
Make clothing that lights up when you move! This is a sewing (no soldering) Flora project using 12 color-changing NeoPixels and the Flora accelerometer/compass module. Spikes in the sensor readings cause the pixels to flash, and sparkle. The pixels are sewn to the skirt’s lining and are diffused by the outer layer of fabric, whether it be a sheer overlay or a cutout lace design.
If a skirt doesn’t appeal to you, use this circuit and code on a hat, a belt buckle, and even a blinky dog collar.
Prerequisite guides:
Tools & Supplies
Bill of materials:
- FLORA main board
- FLORA accelerometer + compass module
- 12 FLORA RGB NeoPixels
- 150mAh LiPo battery or 3xAAA battery pack
- Conductive thread
- Standard thread
- Lined skirt with either a sheer overlay or cutout top layer
- Scissors
- Sewing needle
- Multimeter
- Embroidery hoop (optional but handy)
- Clear nail polish
- Water-soluble embroidery marker or tailor’s chalk
Plush Game Controller
Plush Game Controller with Flora & Conductive Fabric – Make an oversize plush game controller that actually works! Use conductive fabric and a Flora board to stitch up a capacitive touch sensing circuit. The controller acts like a computer keyboard, allowing you to play all your favorite old school games on emulator sites online.
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
Adafruit LED Sewing Kit
In 2009, I created an LED sewing kit to make it easy to get the supplies you need to add LEDs to a project using conductive thread. It later became an Adafruit kit that I earned royalties on from 2012-2016. This is the product documentation. Check out v3 of the LED Sewing Kit for upgraded battery holders and more colors.
Add LED accents to textile projects with Adafruit’s LED Sewing Kit! Stitch a glowing circuit with conductive thread– this kit comes with everything you need to get started:
- 1 bobbin of 2-ply conductive thread
- 2 x sewable CR2032 battery holders
- 2 x CR2032 batteries
- 4 x candle flicker LEDs – they twinkle automatically, no need for a microcontroller or external circuit!
- 4 x 5mm snaps to use as sewable switches
- Needle set
This kit comes with enough supplies to make two projects with two LEDs each, or one project with four LEDs. Great for embroidery and needlework, light-up jewelry and hair accessories, shoes, plush toys, and more. This is a great beginner kit for kids (no soldering!) and adults alike who are looking to get into soft circuits and wearable electronics.
Parts List
Check to make sure your kit comes with the following parts. Sometimes we make mistakes so double check everything and email support@adafruit.com if you need replacements!
| Name | Description | Qty |
| Stainless Thin Conductive Thread – 2 ply – 23 meter/76 ft | Check out the guide on conductive thread! | 1 |
| Sewable CR2032 Battery Holder | Convenient flat back with sewable tabs | 2 |
| LEDs! | Warm white candle flicker LEDs softly twinkle thanks to a chip inside. | 4 |
| CR2032 Lithium Coin Cell Battery | Fits in the sewable holder. ~3V. | 2 |
| Sewable Snaps – 5mm | Strip of four snaps | 1 |
| Needle set – 3/9 sizes – 20 needles | Packet with multiple sizes | 1 |
Tools & Prep
Test that each LED works by pinning it onto one of the included coincell batteries. It will only light up one way so if it doesn’t at first, try flipping it around.
The candle flicker LEDs have a chip inside that causes the light to twinkle.
Notice the longer lead is on the positive side marked +
The LEDs pictured are wired in parallel with the 3V coincell. We recommend powering two LEDs with one battery, which is great for projects in pairs like shoes.
Read our conductive thread guide to get to know this quirky steel textile.
- Pliers help you shape the leads of the LEDs.
- You will need a good quality basic multimeter that can measure voltage and continuity.
- Heat shrink tubing insulates your circuit to prevent shorts.
- Sharp scissors are a must!
Project Ideas
Make LED Gummy Candies
Ever look at a pile of 10mm LEDs and think “mmm, they look just like gumdrops!” These LED gummy candies are so realistic they’ll have your friends fooled at first, then delighted that they are actually edible (and delicious). This tutorial covers the basics of food-safe silicone mold making and provides a recipe for gummy candies you can make at home. – Make LED Gummy Candies
LED Ampli-Tie with Flora
Make your necktie light up like a VU meter! This Flora project uses an Electret Microphone Amplifier to trigger 16 Flora NeoPixels sewn with conductive thread along the length of the tie.
Before you begin this project, we recommend reading the following guides:
Tools & Supplies
Bill of materials:
- 16 Flora NeoPixels
- Flora main board
- Microphone amplifier breakout
- Lipoly battery
- Scrap fabric for battery pouch
- 3-ply conductive thread
- Standard cotton/poly thread
- Ribbon cable or conductive thread ribbon
- Break-away or otherwise clip-on tie
- You’ll use a needle and to stitch up the circuit
- Sharp scissors are a must! You’ll also need a long ruler, some tailor’s chalk, and a seam ripper.
- Don’t forget your wire strippers, pliers, and flush snips!
- You will need a good quality basic multimeter that can measure voltage and continuity.
- Soldering iron and solder
Circuit Diagram
The Flora pixels are all connected to a common ground bus, as well as a common power bus connected to VBATT. The Flora pixel data bus is connected to D6. The microphone amplifier is connected to 3.3V, GND, and D9.
Battery Pouch & Flora
Use a piece of scrap fabric to stitch a small pouch for your lipoly battery. The pouch should be stitched to the back of the tie, just above where the Flora goes, and have an opening at the top for easy removal of the battery for charging. Use a seam ripper to open up the back seam of the tie just a little so you can thread the JST plug and wire inside the tie and down to the Flora.
The plug joins the Flora just inside the folds of the tie so it won’t get caught on anything.
Tack your Flora in place with plain thread by stitching some unused pads to the tie. Try to just stitch to the back surface of the tie so the front fabric remains smooth.
Sewing Pixels
Use a ruler to draw a line down the center of your tie with tailor’s chalk, and evenly distribute your 16 Flora pixels along this line.
Mark the position of each pixel with chalk.
Stitch a long length of conductive thread to GND next to D6, only piercing the back surface of the tie. Stitch over to the (-) pad on your first pixel and secure (but don’t cut the thread).
Add a few more pixels by connecting this long ground line to the (-) pads on the pixels.
Stitch the data bus from D6 to the input pad on the first pixel (marked with an inward-facing arrow). Tie off, seal the knot, and snip the thread.
Stitch small segments of conductive thread between each pixel, connecting the output of one pixel to the input on the next.
Check out my Conductive Thread guide for more tips on working with conductive thread!
Use another long length of conductive thread to connect Flora’s VBATT pad to the (+) pads on the pixels.
Once you’ve stitched a few pixels, test for shorts with your multimeter (make sure your long power and ground threads aren’t touching), and fire up the NeoPixel library test code to ensure your fledgling circuit is all good so far.
Stitch up the rest of the pixels – you’ll have one long ground bus, one long power bus, and short segments between each input/output data pads.
Add Microphone
To match the tie, paint your microphone amplifier with a little black nail polish.
Cut a piece of ribbon cable longer than the main part of the tie.
Peel off three wires to use with the microphone amplifier, which will live at the knot of the tie.
Insert the ribbon cable up through the inside of the tie. Cut a small hole with a seam ripper inside the knot of the tie and bring the ribbon cable through it.
Strip the ends of the wires and solder them up to the three holes on the microphone amplifier.
Use plain thread to anchor the mic to the tie knot using the large mounting holes.
Back at the Flora end of the board, solder the corresponding wires to 3.3V, GND, and D9.
The Code
You’ll need the NeoPixel library for this project. For newer Arduino IDE versions, select Library Manager, scroll to “Adafruit_NeoPixel” and install the latest version.
For very old Arduino IDE versions, download by clicking the ZIP button on the NeoPixel Github repository page, and rename the resulting folder “Adafruit_NeoPixel” and move to your Arduino libraries folder.
For more information on programming your Flora board including the software you need to do so, head over to the Getting Started with Flora guide.
We got so excited about this project we made TWO Arduino sketches to meter the volume in the room (by Phil Burgess, James DeVito, and Andy Doro). You can download them both at the LED Ampli-Tie Github repo. You can download the code from the listings below. The first dynamically adjusts to whatever volume is happening.
The second allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the VU meter:
Wear it!
Take your tie out on the town! It’s perfect for parties, concerts, weddings, Bar Mitzvahs…
If you need to wash your tie, remove the battery and gently spot clean– the pixels, thread, and Flora board can handle getting wet (then dry thoroughly), but water should not get in the microphone.