I have been experimenting with adding LED lights to make fabric postcards. Each postcard is constructed like a mini quilt, but, with the addition of some fun sparkle!
Light bulb postcard
Conductive thread connects the LIlyPad coin cell battery holder that has an on/off switch to the LED light. It is the most simple circuit to create.
Light bulb postcard with LED light on
NiteLite Glow in the Dark Thread is used for all of the other stitching.
Flashlight postcard
Flashlight postcard with LED light on
The flashlight postcard is a slightly more complex circuit. The sewable battery holder does not have an on/off switch, so I added a separate LilyPad Slide Switch to the circuit. This way you don’t need to continually remove the coin cell battery when you don’t want power to your LEDs.
Fireflies postcard
The firefly postcards was so much fun! One of the tiny fireflies is captured in the mason jar, but one has managed to escape!
Fireflies postcard with LED lights on
The two LED lights are connected in a series and I’ve hidden the LilyPad coin cell battery holder in the corner.
I made a small constellation quilt to test out some technology that I learned about at work. One of my co-workers purchased the book Sew Electric: A Collection of DIY Projects That Combine Fabric, Electronics, and Programming by Leah Buechley, Kanjun Qiu and illustrated by Sonja de Boer.
Sew Electric by Leah Buechley, K. Qiu and Sonja de Boer
There are four projects in this book that combine craft making, electronics, and computer science. I was intrigued and excited about using some of these materials in a quilted project. My idea included over 70 LED lights! So, before I ventured into such an ambitious project, I made a small sample to test out my technical skills.
Supplies: LED lights, conductive thread, LilyTiny, battery
For my sample quilt, I chose one of the signs of the zodiac – Sagittarius a constellation with eight stars. I traced the design onto the top with dressmakers tracing paper, sandwiched the piece and machine quilted the design. I used the alphabet embroidery function on my sewing machine to stitch the title, and bound it.
Sagittarius constellation quilt with LED lights
The quilt is about 8″ x 10″ and I quilted it with NiteLite Glow-In-The-Dark thread by Superior Threads. The thread really glows beautifully!
Sagittarius constellation quilt with LED lights on
Once the entire quilt was quilted and bound, I sewed the LED lights onto the intersections where the stars are located in the constellation.
Sagittarius constellation quilt circuit
You can see the conductive thread that creates a circuit, connecting the battery holder to the lights and to the Lilytiny.
Sagittarius constellation quilt Lilytiny and battery holder
The Lilypad was created by Leah Buechly, an engineer, professor and designer. Lilypad Arduinos are small microcontrollers that can be stitched into clothing and programmed. In this case, the LilyTiny is preprogrammed with four different controls: tab 1 LEDs flash like a heartbeat; tab 2 LEDs blink steadily; tab 3 LEDs twinkle; tab 0 LEDs fade in and out.
Sagittarius constellation quilt detail of lights
I was really happy that I could make the technology work. The instructions in Sew Electric were excellent, clearly illustrated and explained. Information on how to sew with conductive thread, how to create circuits and how to troubleshoot problems are clearly given.
I am confident in my techie skills now and am excited to start work on the much larger piece. Have you incorporated technology into your work?
