a quick experiment with fiber optic threaded through fabric and lit by led

fiber optic threaded through fabric and lit with led
Originally uploaded by galaxygoo1

For this little test, I scavenged some optic fiber from a hair glowby and a light weight scarf. First I threaded the fiber into the fabric, which was surprisingly easy. Then I made a makeshift connector with a little tape, which held one end of the fiber close to and led light. And voila!

I'll have to find some more flexible fiber, if I'm going to continue with this. To survive a wearable garment, the fiber needs to be more durable.

my prototype from soft circuit workshop

P1020654
Originally uploaded by iamgracie

Ooh! Grace posted a photo of my protoype on her flickr feed.

Stitching Together a Neoprene Laptop Sleeve

making myself a new laptop sleeve


stitched together with embroidery thread



chain-stitching on the neoprene surface.

Since I had some neoprene on hand, I thought I'd try using some of it to make a new sleeve for my laptop. And since I also had some embroidery thread on hand, I thought I'd try stitching the neoprene with it.

Sewing through two layers of neoprene, by hand, was a little tough. But it wasn't too bad. A nice sharp needle came in very handy. Embroidering a chain stitch on the surface of the neoprene was much easier.

I'm fairly happy with the results, but will probably make another one with thicker neoprene for more padding and protection.

Upcoming Soft Circuit Workshops at GAFFTA!

Woohoo! The first soft circuit workshop was such a success that they're doing it again! Grace Kim is a rock star! So much information. If you're in San Francisco, and you're interested in soft circuits, this is a great workshop to get you started. I understand that there are also more advanced workshops in the works.

Check out the time lapse video they did of the last workshop. Can you spot me? Hint, I'm wearing black and I'm not always sitting in the same spot. Ha!

Soft Circuit Workshop Timelapse from GAFFTA on Vimeo.

making a neoprene holder for coin cell battery

"threading" conductive fabric through the neoprene


making contact with coin cell battery


testing with an LED


hooking up contact points


holding the halves together while testing

One of the coolest items we got, at the gaffta workshop on Soft Circuits, was a nifty little battery holder made from neoprene and conductive fabric. As a result of this workshop, I'm now completely addicted to soft circuits. So the other night I tried to make one of these battery holders myself.

I found diagrams online, which were very helpful.

The trickiest part was figuring out how to make the gap I was seeing in diagrams. I cut two slots in the neoprene and "threaded" the conductive fabric through them. Thinking about the circuit helped me understand the structure. The battery needs to touch one part of the fabric and yet be isolated from the other end of it.

Testing with direct contact of an LED worked great. At each step, I stopped and checked the circuit. I also tested with jumper cables.

I can't help but think that if my physics labs had been this much fun, I'd have done a lot better in my physics classes.

San Francisco Soft Circuits Club?

Wondering if there's anyone local (San Francisco) who's interested in meeting up every now and then for a modern quilting bee, where we all bring our own soft circuit projects and hang out?

Cell Kits on Makers Market

Cell Kits on Makers Market
Originally uploaded by galaxygoo1

Woohoo! We were accepted into the curated Makers Market!

There's the cell project, right there on the front page of the market!

The Makers Market is still in beta, so I don't really know what to expect. But I'm very excited! alpharabbit.makersmarket.com