Fabric Bend Sensor

Step 4 Sewing

Now that both sides of your sensor are prepared, thread a needle with a good amount of conductive thread. You can take it double or single. I prefer to take it single.
Sew into the neoprene from the back/outside (in this case grey side). Start at the end furthest away from the patch of conductive fabric. Stitch back and forth as shown in the photos. When you reach the end, sew the thread to the conductive fabric. Make at least 6 stitches to connect the two.
Do this sewing for both pieces of neoprene, with the exception that in once case the conductive fabric is on the other side of the conductive stitches. Still you want to attach the conductive thread to the conductive fabric patch with at least 6 stitches.

The reason the stitching on both sides must be identical is so that when they lie on top of each other (facing each other) the stitches crisscross and overlap in one point. This has two advantages. First that it is unlikely that the stitches will not line up and not make any overlapping connection. And secondly that the surface of connection is not too big. I’ve found that if the conductive surfaces are too big that the sensitivity of the sensor is no longer good for what I want.