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For this holiday season, add a little glitter to your home or crafting/work space with your own LED Felt Decorations. No need for soldering irons: The simple LED circuit is entirely sewn by hand using conductive thread.
You can use the provided template or venture off on your own by designing custom shapes and forms.
LED Primer
Before you go to your local electronics store, there are a few things you need to know about LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). LEDs are tiny lights that emit a bright light while consuming very little power. The reason they're so cool is that we can run them off of small batteries.
A typical LED has two leads (legs) one shorter than the other. Just like batteries, LEDs have a positive and negative side (or lead). The shorter lead is typically the negative while the longer lead is the positive. In order for the LED to light up, the positive lead must be connected to the positive side of your battery while the negative lead to the negative side of the battery in order for the LED to light up. If you reverse it, it simple won't work.
Grab your 3V lithium battery and try it out. Touch the longer LED lead to the positive side of the battery and shorter to the negative side of your battery. Your LED should light up! It's really that simple.
Now that you know how a simple LED circuit works, let's start crafting.
You can use the provided template or venture off on your own by designing custom shapes and forms.
LED Primer
Before you go to your local electronics store, there are a few things you need to know about LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). LEDs are tiny lights that emit a bright light while consuming very little power. The reason they're so cool is that we can run them off of small batteries.
A typical LED has two leads (legs) one shorter than the other. Just like batteries, LEDs have a positive and negative side (or lead). The shorter lead is typically the negative while the longer lead is the positive. In order for the LED to light up, the positive lead must be connected to the positive side of your battery while the negative lead to the negative side of the battery in order for the LED to light up. If you reverse it, it simple won't work.
Grab your 3V lithium battery and try it out. Touch the longer LED lead to the positive side of the battery and shorter to the negative side of your battery. Your LED should light up! It's really that simple.
Now that you know how a simple LED circuit works, let's start crafting.
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Signing UpStep 1What you'll need:
Conductive thread
1 x metallic snap
1 x jump hoop
1 x 5" x 5" square of 1/4" industrial felt
1 x 3-5 mm LED
1 x 3V coin cell battery
1 x sewing needle
1 x needle threader (optional)
Industrial Felt (or other thick material)
Crafting knife
Needle nose pliers
Tracing pen
Printer
Hot glue gun
Black marker
Template: DownloadDownload the template
1 x metallic snap
1 x jump hoop
1 x 5" x 5" square of 1/4" industrial felt
1 x 3-5 mm LED
1 x 3V coin cell battery
1 x sewing needle
1 x needle threader (optional)
Industrial Felt (or other thick material)
Crafting knife
Needle nose pliers
Tracing pen
Printer
Hot glue gun
Black marker
Template: DownloadDownload the template
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Some people have green eyes. :)
But as Wafflicious suggests, it might not contrast with the tree very much. I was suggesting green as you wouldn't have to increase the voltage that the LED uses - blue or qhite LEDs usually need a higher voltage to power them, which might mean you need another coin cell.
Blue would be nice (though maybe a bit "cyborgy"). How about yellow or orange?
If you don't have an Osh near you try here:
NanricNanric
Or online at:
FilzFeltFilzFelt - Nice variety of colored Felts
Other resources can be found herehere under Industrial Felt.
Hope this helps!
Also you can substitute the industrial felt with any other dense material that you can sew through. You can layer a number of textiles together and use ordinary felt if you wish as well.