In this tutorial I will show how to sew your own skull brooch that lights up by touching between its eyes. Firstly we will sew the felt skull, and afterwards, a felt battery holder with metal snap buttons on the backside.

Materials

- Skull pattern

- Felt

- Lining and wadding

- metal snap buttons

- 2 leds (3mm)

- 100 Ohm resistor

- 3V battery

- Conductive thread

- Conductive fabric

Step 1: The Pattern

Download and cut the skull pattern.

You need to cut two bases, two eyes, a nose and a theeth.

calavera nou.pdf
Download

Step 2: Cutting and Sewing the Skull Face

Cut the felt patterns and sew the eyes, nose and teeth. Hand sew and embroider the skull face with colored threads as you prefer!

Once the skull face is decorated and stitched, punch the two leds in the eyes and the resistor between the eyes.

To correctly orient the leds, the positive leg must be in the upper side and the negative leg in the lower side.

Step 3: The Circuit

In this circuit, the two leds are connected in parallel. The positive legs are connected to the positive borne of the battery. The negative legs are connected to a 100 Ohm resistor and the resistor is connected to the negative borne of the battery.

Step 4: Sewing the Led's Negative Legs

Use a plier to make a loop shape with the negative legs and the resistor legs. Use conductive thread to sew the two negative legs and one of the resistor legs together.

Sew the other resistor leg with conductive thread and stitch until the skull teeth. These stitches will be later part of the negative borne of the battery.

Step 5: Sewing the Led's Positive Legs

Place the lining on the back of the skull face by punching the two positive legs through it. Make a loop shape with the positive legs and sew them together. These are the positive borne of the circuit.

Pass the conductive thread (negative borne) through the lining too.

Step 6: Cutting a Hole in the Wadding

Cut a hole in the wadding and place it over the lining. Cut a little piece of conductive fabric and place it over the hole.

Pass the conductive thread (negative borne) through the wadding too.

Step 7: The Backside

Sew two metal snap buttons on the backside. First, sew the buttons with normal thread and then sew them again using conductive thread.

Sew a few stitches on the upper button using conductive thread. This button is the positive borne.

Then, sew a few stitches on the lower button with conductive thread by passing through the wadding (negative borne).

Step 8: Final Stitches

Sew around the edge of the skull with colored thread. The skull is now finished.

Finally, sew the metal snap button in a felt battery holder too and connect it to the skull. The skull will light up when you touch it on the middle of its face.

You can nail a safety pin on the backside and wear it in your t-shirts!