Fatlab hoodie

The fffffat crew is meeting up in Berlin next week for Transmediale. I can’t make it out, but I did make a tutorial for fffffatting up your hoodie, so the gang can roll in style without me. I’ll be missing you guys!

Fatlab hoodie | January 28, 2010 | posted in Blog, Projects | Comments (0)


New <3 Necklace, for sale this time

Many of you requested I make available a version of my <3 necklace, so here it is! Get yours on Etsy now for $150.

This 1.5 inch tall Sterling silver pendant is handmade from 1mm thick sheet and tubing, depicting the internet-savvy sentiment <3, an ascii heart! Appropriate for showing your geeky ladyfriend how much you care. The < and 3 dangle freely, dancing near each other with the wearer’s motions. Available with a 19 inch long 3mm leather cord or Sterling silver chain. Finished with a Sterling clasp and packaged in a black jewelry gift box.

If you want to make your own (to wear or give, not sell, please), here’s the template I used to pierce the shapes:

New <3 Necklace, for sale this time | January 25, 2010 | posted in Blog | Comments (4)


Felt Control Panel

I’m working on some felt electronics, this time pushbuttons in addition to knobs. Moxie taught me how to needle felt, which makes it easier to form a dense defined shape than with wet felting. I first make little marshmallow-shaped cylinders, then bore a hole and insert the button or knob. A few more pics are at my Flickr.

If you’re interested in a custom order, submit a request at my Etsy shop.

Felt Control Panel | December 29, 2009 | posted in Blog, Projects | Comments (1)


LED sewing kit Jawa dolls

Betty made these Jawa dolls with LED eyes using my LED sewing kit, aren’t they awesome? She offers a free pattern, too! Open source crafting!

LED sewing kit Jawa dolls | December 15, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (2)


LED Sewing Kit Sample Project

This is a tutorial for my LED Sewing Kit, where you can include LEDs into an embroidered picture or into a garment of your choice.

CRAFT Video Podcast

Download Pattern

Workshop links

Hannah Perner-Wilson’s soft circuits: www.kobakant.at/DIY/
LilyPad Arduino and accessories: Sparkfun Electronics
Conductive thread: Lame Lifesaver
Conductive fabrics and Velcro: Less EMF

Materials and Tools

Supplies & Tools
Pattern, carbon paper, wooden embroidery hoop, fabric, pen/pencil, scissors, needlenose pliers, two yellow LEDs, switch, embroidery needle, coincell battery and holder, conductive thread, embroidery floss, regular sewing thread (any color).

Most of these things can be found at the craft store. For the hard to find parts, I’ve put together an LED sewing kit you can buy, or source the parts as follows:

You can find the LEDs and switch at Radioshack or Fry’s. The battery is a CR2032 coincell (Digikey #P189-ND), and the battery holder has sewable leads (Digikey #BA2032SM-ND). You can buy the conductive thread from Lame Livesaver and Sparkfun.

Sewable LED Switch
Modify the LEDs according to the instructions below to make them sewable. I soldered wire leads onto my switch to make it easier to work with. If you’re using the snap from the kit, you’ve got no soldering to do!

Preparation

Electronic Embroidery instruction sheet
Carbon Paper
Trace the pattern Remove the pattern and carbon paper
Download the pattern and trace it onto the fabric with the carbon paper.

Separate the rings
Tighten the fabric
Loosen the screw and place the solid hoop under the fabric. Secure the outer hoop over the inner hoop, centered over the traced design. Tighten down the screw, and pull the fabric taut, a little bit from each side to keep the design centered. It should make a little noise when you tap on it, like a drum.

Embroider the design

Thread the needle Tie a knot in the other en
Thread the needle and tie a knot in the end of the floss.

First Stitch First Stitch
Bring the needle through the fabric from the back to front. Pull taut. We’re going to be doing the backstitch along the lines of the pattern.

First Stitch First Stitch
Bring the needle to the back from the front, following the traced line and pull taut.

Second Stitch
Here’s where we start the backstitch. Bring the needle from the back to front one stitch’s length up the line from the first stitch and pull taut.
Second Stitch
Pull the needle from front to back at the spot where the first stitch ended and pull taut.

Third Stitch
Repeat the second stitch: come from back to front one stitch down the line.

Continue along in this manner The back

Keep going. You can jump over sections of the back to start up another line, just make sure the fabric is tight in the hoop to prevent puckering. Also try to make the most efficient path to use the smallest amount of floss required.

When you run out of floss When you run out of floss
When you run out of floss, Just tuck in the end, weaving it in between previous stitches on the back side. Cut the floss.

Finish the design
Finish the rest of the design according to the pattern.

Prepare the LED and switch

Prepare the LED
Prepare the LED Prepare the LED
Now we’re going to prepare the LEDs so they’re sewable. Bend the longer lead in a square fashion, coiling it towards the cap.

Prepare the LED
Coil the shorter lead in a round fashion up towards the cap. Repeat the process on the other LED.

Prepare the switch
Prepare the switch by coiling the leads of the wires on the switch. It’s not important which one is which. If you’re using the LED sewing kit, you have a snap instead of a switch. Good news, you can skip this step!

Sew the circuit

Sew an LED
Hold the LED in place with one hand. Thead the needle with conductive thread. Bring the needle through from the back on the outside of the square coil.

Sew and LED
Bring the needle from front to back inside the square coil, stitching over the metal lead.

Sew an LED
Continue to make stitches all around the square coil. This makes a strong mechanical and electrical connection.

Position the battery
This is what the back looks like. We’re going to sew a line to the positive battery connection.

Sew to the battery connection
Backstitch a line down to the positive battery connector following the pattern.

Sew the battery holder
Hold the battery holder in place with one hand, and sew it in place with the other. Notice we’re sewing the end with the + on it (not the -). Stitch it the same way as the LED. You’ll reach a point when the needle will no longer fit through the hole because it will be too ful of stitches.

Stitch the other LED
Without cutting the thread, stitch a path (still in backstitch) to the other firefly, and sew the square-coiled lead the same way you did the first.

Weave it back

Tie off the thread. Weave it back along the stitched line the same way you do with the regular floss, then cut it. The reason you weave it back is that the end tends to fray, which could cause a short circuit if it were near another conductive trace.

The front
Here’s what it looks like on the front.

Start sewing the negatives
Start sewing the negative leads of the LEDs together.

Sew the negatives together
Sew a path to the other negative LED lead, around the positive trace and tack it down. Be sure not to catch the thread on the postive lead anywhere.

The switch
Remove the nuts on the switch post.

It's going in that hole Sandwich the fabric
Align the two holes in in the embroidery hoop with the design centered and oriented with the fastening screw up. A little wiggling may be required. Tighten down the fastening screw.

Poke a hole in the fabric
Poke a hole in the fabric with scissors (or an awl or seamripper if you’ve got ‘em).

Switch installed
Thread the switch into place.

Put on the nutHere's what it looks like from the front

If the post sticks out the other side of the hoop, you can thread on one of the nuts that came with the switch.

Sew the switch
Sew one lead of the switch to the negative conductive path (the one not attached to the battery), making sure to make good connections between the switch coil and the negative conductive path. Cut the thread. If you’re using the snap from the kit instead of a toggle switch, sew one half to the back of the embroidery with the conductive thread as indicated in the diagram, then sew the second conductive path to the other half of the snap (but not the base fabric) so that it dangles free (use careful positioning so it doesn’t short your circuit while its dangling). Snap the snap to turn on the circuit.

Sew the switch
Bend the other switch lead toward the unsewn battery connector and sew it down using the same technique as the LEDs.

Sew the switch
Sew a line to the negative battery connector terminal and sew through the hole in the connector. Cut the thread.

Finish up

Check for shorts
Check your circuit against the diagram and watch out for fraying thread shorts. Set the switch to the “off” position.

Install the battery
It goes in at an angle, then push it down. The + side goes up (the side with the writing). Push down the battery to make sure it’s flush and completely in.

Turn it on


Turn it over and flip the switch. The lights should come on! If they don’t, turn it off and check for good connections and shorts.

Trim the edge
Trim the fabric within 1.5 inches of the edge.

Sew down the edge
Use regular thread and a running stitch to gather the edge on the back side.

The back
Here’s the back. You can change the battery when it dies. If you leave it on 24/7, it should last 1-2 weeks, gradually getting dimmer as time goes on.

The finished work, off
Here’s what it looks like off.

The finished work, on
Here’s what it looks like on. That’s it, you’re done!

LED Sewing Kit Sample Project | November 27, 2009 | posted in Projects | Comments (2)


Open Source Embroidery at MOCFA opening tonight

The Open Source Embroidery exhibition featuring my LilyPad Arduino Embroidery has traveled from Sweden to San Francisco, where it will be on display at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art until January 24. Check out the interview with curator Ele Carpenter on Rhizome.

Open Source Embroidery at MOCFA opening tonight | October 01, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


TV-B-Gone Hoodie at Gizmodo Gallery

My TV-B-Gone Hoodie will be at the Gizmodo Gallery at Groupe (267 Elizabeth St, NYC) through Sunday!

TV-B-Gone Hoodie at Gizmodo Gallery | September 24, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle

Moxie at UCU

This weekend I’m in Seattle at Urban Craft Uprising’s first ever summer show, and it’s a blast. I did a soft circuit demo, and doing another one Sunday at 1:30pm. I’m selling LED sewing kits, so if you’re looking for the tutorial, click on through. Pictured above is the incommutable Moxie herself.

Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle | August 02, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


Workaday Business Squid

I’ve been making plush squids again, and this time I published a free (creative commons by-sa license) pattern to go along with them, so you can make your own. The one pictured above is named “Mr. Caissy from Accounting.” See more plush squids in my Flickr set.

Workaday Business Squid | July 16, 2009 | posted in Blog, Projects | Comments (1)


Me and my Makerbot

I recently won a raffle for a Makerbot Cupcake CNC machine, which is a DIY 3D printer. The raffle was held by AS220, an awesome hacker/etc lab in Providence. Thanks a million, guys, it works great! You can find the file for the little mushroom that I printed (John Park modeled it) in the Thingiverse.

Me and my Makerbot | July 01, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (3)


I won a MakerBot CupCake CNC machine!

Providence geek den AS220 recently had a raffle to both give away and raise money for their own MakerBot CupCake CNC. I bought a ticket and won! I’ll soon be 3D printing from my studio, yay, and THANKS!

I won a MakerBot CupCake CNC machine! | June 15, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (8)


Open Source Embroidery Exhibition and Article

The Open Source Embroidery exhibition is now open at UmeĆ„ University’s Bildmuseet. After the show is over there, it’ll be traveling to the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco (October 2009). Wired.com interviewed me in an article about the exhibit and movement.

Open Source Embroidery Exhibition and Article | June 15, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (3)


Fiber Arctic

My Iceberg piece will be in this show opening Friday, June 12. Kristen Rask, organizer of the show, also did an interview with me on her blog.

Fiber Arctic

Opening June 12, 2009

Exhibition runs June 12 to July 9

Schmancy Gallery

1932 2nd Ave, Seattle

Fiber Arctic | June 11, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


Iceberg

The Iceberg

Iceberg
Cotton/Linen Yarn, Acrylic, Sterling Silver, MDF, Ice
2009

This iceberg is made from cotton/linen yarn and then stiffened with acrylic. Inside is a polar bear made from ice which slowly melts down and out through the sterling silver drain on the sloped platform. The iceberg itself was made using a knotless netting technique.

Drain and Ice Bear inside Iceberg

The Iceberg

This photo is by Matt Mets. Check out more photos at my Flickr set.

Iceberg | May 05, 2009 | posted in Blog, Portfolio, Projects | Comments (0)


Summer Juried Grad Student Show

Ouch, My Femoral Condyle

My Plush Knee will appear in this summer’s juried show at the Harry Wood Gallery at ASU. The opening reception is Monday, May 4 from 7-9pm. The show will run until September 4.

Summer Juried Grad Student Show | May 02, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


Imagined Geographies Show May 1

I’ll be showing my Iceberg and Plush Knee (“Ouch, My Femoral Condyle!”) at Bragg’s Pie Factory on May 1, 6:30-9:30pm.

1301 W. Grand Ave Phoenix

The Iceberg

Imagined Geographies Show May 1 | May 01, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


<3 Necklace

<3 Necklace

<3 (ASCII Heart)
Hollow-Formed Sterling Silver
2009
Not for sale

ASCII Heart Necklace

This photo is by Victoria Altepeter.

While this hollow formed necklace is not for sale, this simpler version is: New <3 necklace

<3 (ASCII Heart)
Sterling Silver (sheet and tubing)
2010
$150 on Etsy

If you want to make your own (to wear or give, not sell, please), here’s the template I used to pierce the shapes:

<3 Necklace | April 23, 2009 | posted in Blog, Portfolio, Projects | Comments (4)


LilyPad Arduino Blinking Bike Bag Patch Tutorial

I added these blinking lights to my fatlab patch for riding my bike at night, and show you how in the above video. You can also look at the instructable or download the code and schematic for this soft circuit project.

Reposted from CRAFT.

LilyPad Arduino Blinking Bike Bag Patch Tutorial | April 10, 2009 | posted in Blog, Projects | Comments (0)


Vicodin Ring

Vicodin Ring

In Case of Emergency
Sterling Silver, Vicodin
2009

To go with my Vicodin earrings, here’s a ring with a bezel-set pill instead of a stone.

Vicodin Ring and Pendant

This photo is by Victoria Altepeter.

Vicodin Ring | April 08, 2009 | posted in Blog, Portfolio, Projects | Comments (8)


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

Plush Knee | March 26, 2009 | posted in Blog, Portfolio, Projects | Comments (9)


LilyPad Embroidery in Crafts Magazine

LilyPad Embroidery in Crafts Magazine

My LilyPad Arduino Embroidery appeared in Crafts Magazine in the March/April issue.

LilyPad Embroidery in Crafts Magazine | March 26, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (1)


Twitchie Scorpion on Attack of the Show


John Park took my Twitchie Scorpion on G4’s Attack of the Show. His tail was damaged in shipping, see it leaning over? I hope nobody else noticed.

Twitchie Scorpion on Attack of the Show | March 08, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (0)


Plush Femur


I made this large-scale model of my femur in plush. I used pictures from inside my knee during surgery and looked at anatomy pictures to get the shape. I had a flap of cartilage that had to be removed, then the doc drilled little holes in the underlying bone to stimulate scar tissue growth for padding in the area. The object is surprisingly cuddly. Materials: fuzzy polyester fur, fleece.
Plush Femur

Plush Femur | February 24, 2009 | posted in Blog | Comments (9)


Artificial Sweetener Tablecloth

Sweetener packets in progress

I constructed this tablecloth from artificial sweetener packets and packing tape. I made the underlying tablecloth, too, then topped the whole thing with a protective (and even more artificial) layer of vinyl. I’m having trouble coming up with a title for this piece. So far I’ve got “You’re Sweet Enough Already,” do you have any suggestions?

Artificial Sweetener Tablecloth | February 23, 2009 | posted in Blog, Portfolio, Projects | Comments (29)