Finally, I can use my sewing machine for wearable tech

I’ve always loved the idea of adding lights and electronics to clothing and wearables. However, most of the ‘do it yourself’ range of sewable lights, battery holders and buttons involve hand stitching the parts in place with conductive thread.

Hand stitching really makes the process time consuming and I’m not very good at making it come together neatly.

I’ve been experimenting with flexible circuit boards and have created a design that can be easily attached with conductive fabric tape rails and sewn with a sewing machine. I haven’t seen anything like this and I’m excited to make into something other makers can use.

Here’s a demo of the machine sewable light strips. All you need is a sewable coin cell battery holder, conductive fabric tape, a bit of scrap fabric and a coin cell battery. You can also use conductive thread in your sewing machine, but it’s not needed.

I love how easy it is to test the circuit straight away after taping down.

You can finalise the design quickly on the sewing machine, making the work stronger and neater.

I’m thinking about doing a run of these in the rainbow RGB and white LED colours. Let me know on Twitter if you’re interested!