Custom Body Scan Jeans: Unspun Review and Interview with Cofounder Beth Esponette

This is a bit different than my normal build video, but I’m so interested in the environmental and sociological changes Unspun’s business model has the potential to bring about. Let me know what you think. You can get 20% off Unspun jeans with code BECKY https://unspun.io/

As part of the YouTube robodubbing beta, this video has a Spanish audio track. Check it out in the Settings menu of the YouTube player.

Today I’m taking look at an innovative denim company that’s using high-tech software to reduce waste and make completely custom-fit jeans. I got to speak to Unspun co-founder Beth Esponette and try out the body scanning phone app for myself.

Here’s the way it works. You pick out your style and fabric, then record a short video to scan your body using the Unspun app.

So it takes a few weeks to get the jeans in the mail. They arrive in a recyclable mailer with instructions to wear them in for a week before evaluating the fit, and unspun will remake them for free if they don’t feel perfect. This happened to me– I don’t know if it’s because I wore tight leggings or if I was sucking in my gut for the camera, or maybe because I gained weight while my jeans were in production, but the revised jeans, fit perfectly– Better than any denim I’ve ever owned. These revisions were made based on my feedback, not a new scan. But I did end up ordering another pair with a new scan just to compare the results.

The traditional supply chain requires large minimums. Many thousands of units of a product must be made for the price of each one to feel affordable. That means only products that are predicted to sell in those quantities are manufactured. In the video above, Unspun cofounder Beth Esponette explains how their business model turns the traditional supply chain on its head.

I am admittedly a tough customer when it comes to pants, or trousers as some of you call them. I’ve been wearing overalls and coveralls for the past few years, and I’ll let you in on a little secret, it’s not just because they are workshoppy and cute. I’ve been avoiding waistbands because not only have I gained weight, so none of my pants fit me, but I was also diagnosed with PCOS, and I have occasional abdominal discomfort. But my unspun jeans fit great and are very comfortable. In addition to the waste-reduction benefits of this business model, there’s also a real improvement to the customer experience. No longer is your personal fit experience beholden to where your figure fits on a bell curve compared to everybody else, which serves the economics of the inventory model.

If you’d like to try out their tech and pick up a pair of unspuns, you can use my discount code on the screen now to get 20% off. I’m not earning affiliate income and this video is not sponsored by Unspun, but they did gift me the jeans.

Oura Ring Teardown (Gen 3 and Gen 2)

I’m taking a look inside the Oura ring, a fitness tracker that looks like a piece of jewelry.

Oura’s tech focuses heavily on sleep tracking, which makes sense to me since it’s way more comfortable than any wristband I’ve tried.

It’s so teeny, and waterproof, I’m super curious about what’s inside. I set out to take apart both a Gen 2 and a Gen 3 Oura ring, as well as one charging base. I anticipated having trouble getting to see the actual circuit board up close, so before cracking at them with cutting tools, I sent them off to be CT scanned at a company called Lumafield. Their Neptune machine makes it easy to see inside 3D objects and explore the different materials that make them up, in a smaller and easier to use form factor than traditional CT scanners.

Thanks to David Cranor for lending his electrical engineering expertise.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video! Check out this project on Maker.io.

Tools used in this teardown:

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Waxed Canvas Tool Roll

This tool roll is an easy and useful sewing project that can be whipped up in an afternoon. The finished dimensions are about 28cm tall by about 65cm long when unrolled.

Thanks to DigiKey for sponsoring this video! Check out this project on maker.io.

Materials & Supplies

For this project, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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Raspberry Pi Smart Magic Mirror

Here’s an easy smart mirror powered by Raspberry Pi. I’m using the MagicMirror2 software with features for weather, my calendar, public transit, and any other of the hundreds of available IoT modules. I installed an old computer monitor on an articulated mount with a piece of two-way mirror glass.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video! Check out this project on maker.io.

Materials and Supplies

For this project, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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3D Enclosure and Felt Knobs for the Bitty

The Bitty is a pocket drum machine by Curious Sound Objects. I 3D printed an enclosure to help it sit flat on the table, and I encased the knobs in felt so they are soft and squishy.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video!

Supplies & Tools

For this project, in addition to a Bitty, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

I used Tinkercad to sketch out my idea, which is basically a box the same shape as the Bitty, with openings for the switches and knobs. It’s flat on the front to print with that side to the build plate. I punched out the Curious Sound Objects logo from the speaker area. You can grab the file on Tinkercad.

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Homemade Robots Book Review

This is a quick review of my friend Randy Sarafan’s book, Homemade Robots: 10 Simple Bots to Build with Stuff Around the House.

I built several of the bots from the book– I’m credited as the technical reviewer.

Randy’s bots all use modified servos wired and mounted in clever ways to produce unique movements from easy-to-find household materials.

After removing the control boards, servos become just geared DC motors, capable of producing a lot of torque for their size, and eliminating the need for a microcontroller or coding of any kind. You’ll learn the basics of soldering and how to make this simple modification to the motors yourself, then apply them in 10 fun bots.

I only used six motors total and took apart some bots to build others. Most of them use zip ties or nuts and bolts to hold everything together.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

Amazon Halo Band Teardown

Welcome back for another gadget teardown. This time we’re taking a look at the Amazon Halo Band, a fitness tracker that also provides tone of voice analysis. I teamed up with David Cranor and Vanessa Hill/Braincraft on this one! I also have txyz.info on Hackaday.io to thank for all the reverse engineering in their own, more thorough teardown.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video!

Here’s a list of tools we used:

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My Ikea Greenhouse Cabinet

This is how I made my Ikea greenhouse cabinet. 

First I put together my cabinet and added some LED grow lights with a built-in timer, and a humidifier in the bottom. The whole point is to keep my rain forest plants happy, which like things warmer and more humid than the normal conditions in my apartment.

Supplies:

Shop my whole Windowsill Garden idea list on Amazon.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

I mist my air plants and anthuriums once a day and keep an eye on the temperature and moisture levels with a little meter.

Hot Dog Robot for Colin Furze

This year I’ve been invited to join YouTube Makers Secret Santa, where we all make each other personalized gifts. And the name I drew at random is the inimitable Colin Furze.

I want to give Colin a truly American gift, something that transports him across the pond to right here in New York City. And now that Colin’s been a food judge on British TV, what better way than to share a local culinary tradition– the sidewalk hotdog cart. So for Colin, I’m building a New York Hot Dog Experience Machine. Also: Estefannie and Ruth helped me come up with the idea.

I found some “hot dog robots” online but all they did was pick up the dog, never put the toppings on, which is mostly what you see happening at a NYC hot dog cart. So I started my quest to build a toppings machine, and figured it might as well look the part too.

Now I know we were supposed to stick to a small materials budget for this project, but sponsored parts don’t count and this project is sponsored by Digi-Key. I was able to easily source all the electronics parts for this build and they ship super fast.

Electronics supplies (also available as a saved cart on Digi-Key):

Other materials and tools:

Check out all my favorite electronics tools and supplies.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

Record Authentic NYC Audio

I wanted to help Colin feel like he was really in New York City, so I went to some different spots in Manhattan to record some audio. I’ve attached the edited OGG file, which is compatible with the audio FX sound board.

T02HOLDL.oggDownload

Electronics

The electronics for this project are based around a motor driver board to control all three servos, hooked up to a microcontroller that is also reading the photoresistor to detect the hotdog and also two manual control buttons for loading/unloading the mustard bottle.

The LED matrix is made from three smaller panels, and the LEDs are dotstars. It has its own little microcontroller so I didn’t have to worry about integrating the LED animations with the motors or switches up top. The code is easier that way.

Power is shared between this main circuit and the sound board controlling the audio, as well as the LED and its dedicated microcontroller.

I’ve attached the Arduino code for this project.

nyc_hotdog_experience.zipDownload

Mustard Squeezer

Now, mechanical engineering isn’t usually my strongest subject, and I really didn’t want to mess up this awesome idea, so I called on my friend Ruby Zoom for help– she helped design the mechanisms, and it was a blast working with her on this project. Please go check out her channel.

The mustard squeezer and onion dumper are 3D printed and have servo motors controlling their movement.

I used bits of aluminum extrusion I had kicking around to make a simple gantry for the mustard.

The squeezer has two motors. One to wiggle the bottle back and forth, and one to squeeze out the mustard.

Onion Sauce Plopper

The onion sauce plopper has one motor that spins the sauce trough to dump out the sauce.

Mini Sabrett Umbrella

Fittingly enough, the umbrella that ended up being the right scale for this project is an American Girl doll umbrella. I fitted it with some blue and yellow fabric to make it look more like the ones at the hot dog carts. I used some iron-on t-shirt vinyl and my cnc vinyl cutter to make the graphics.

Polymer Clay Pretzels

I made some polymer clay pretzels to go with the experience, but by the time it was ready to ship to Colin, my studio was such a mess I couldn’t find them. They turned up when I cleaned up, so I’ll put them on the second version of the machine I made to keep for myself.

Maker Secret Santa 2021!

All that was left to do was send Colin’s gift to him in the UK. I included the mustard, onion sauce, UK power adapter, and some instructions. Head over to Colin’s channel to watch him open it and try it out.