This instructable will teach you how to make pasties with LED nipples. Obviously this is information you need to succeed in life!

First of all, thank you to clamoring for the original instructable! I followed her instructions to form the pasties, but made a few adjustments to add the LEDs. :D

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-your-own-burlesque-pasties/

The pasties are so simple to make that I figured it would be nice to add something else - hence the LED "nipples."

These are the first pair I've made and while they're not the greatest (sloppy sewing FTW!), I'm hoping you guys will help me improve them!

P.S. - You might not want to look any further if you're easily offended, scared of breasts and/or women, or at work. Just so we're clear. :D

Step 1: Ingredients!

You will need:

craft foam (preferably black)
your choice of fancy fabric
craft glue (I used aleene's tacky glue)
thread to match fabric
needles
an x-acto knife
5mm LEDs
two 2025 lithium batteries
patience and nipples!

Unlike the original project, grommets are not necessary. :D

Step 2: Nipple Fitting!

This is really the trickiest part.

It can be hard to find the right size circle for your pasties, so you will probably be doing a lot of cutting. I used random circular objects lying around like soy sauce and vitamin bottles to help with measurements.

You will need four foam circles total - two large and two small. There will not be a lot of difference between the sizes - but the large one will need to be wide enough to accomodate the battery and LED - you'll see what I mean later!

Below are pictures of the shapes that I cut out of the foam - you can see I tried a lot of different ones before I got it right.

Once you find a circle that fits, make sure to make copies! You'll need them!

Make sure to reference the original instructable for help if you need it:
https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-your-own-burlesque-pasties/

Step 3: Pacmans and Sewing.

Clamoring recommended making your foam circles into pacman-like shapes, and that does seem to work the best. You just need to figure out how large you want to make the mouth.

The larger the mouth, the pointier the circle! I made smaller cuts on the bottom pasties, and larger ones on the top.

This will make the top more tented so that the LED and battery can rest in between the foam circles.

After you have the slits cut, sew them up!

It is important to note that I did not cut a hole in the bottom pastie - only a small one in the top for the LED to go through.

Step 4: Covering the Larger Pastie With Fabric.

This is the pastie that will end up on top with the LED protruding from it.

I didn't bother with cutting a slit in my fabric because I had stretchy fabric. I just smeared glue liberally on the foam and then smoothed a square of fabric over it.

At this point, I began sewing the fabric to the pastie. Once that was done, I trimmed the excess fabric on the underside and the fabric over the hole in the foam was to open it up again.

I recommend doing this when you're fully awake. I had quite a hard time doing this in the middle of the night!

Step 5: Inserting the LED and Battery.

Now you'll need to get the LED and battery to behave and sit where you want them to.

This does not work very well the majority of the time. Once you have them lying flat, you'll need to sew on the bottom pastie. I left a little pocket so that the LED and battery were easily accessed. The pocket is somewhat of a challenge - you'll need to make it wide enough for the battery to slide out, but tight enough so that you get a good connection between the LED and the battery.

This took a few tries.

Step 6: Finishing Up!

Now you should have a completed LED pastie. Repeat this process with the second one and then go dance around topless in the dark somewhere! Put them on your cats! Stage a burlesque show in the privacy of your home!

Or... improve it. Which is what I'm hoping to do - here are some things I need to fix or want to add:

two layers of foam seems a bit thick. I think I need to do only one layer of foam, and secure the LED and battery using only a piece of fabric. This will take the place of the smaller piece of foam.
I bought fabric paint in the hopes that I could make these X-Men themed... I think a yellow X would go nicely with the black fabric!
Find a better way to adhere them.
Acquire smaller batteries. A 2025 is not big, but not small enough, either. It tends to protrude. :P
Sew in a less messy manner. I took a very quick and dirty approach with these - next time I'll have to do better!
See if 4mm LEDs will fit through the grommets I purchased. The 5mm were a bit too big, the 3mm much too small.
After a lot of reading - it looks like backing them with felt or vinyl will be better than foam. I'll have to try that next. :D