Skirt Full of Stars - Motion reactive skirt with fiber optics

Step 4: Create the ribbon cable for the waistband

I used grosgrain ribbon to create literal ‘ribbon cables’ to attach the LEDs around the waistband of the skirt and to allow the accelerometer to hang for more freedom of movement.

For the LEDs you will need a length of ribbon a few inches shorter than your waist measurement at the point where you’d like the skirt to sit.

Load your sewing machine bobbin with conductive thread, and normal thread on top. I used a contrasting color here, but you may want to pick a matching thread.

Sew four parallel lines of conductive thread on the ribbon, keeping the all of the conductive thread on the same side. I like to leave long tails – around 12″ – to allow me to hand sew the ribbon to other components without needing to splice the thread.

Note: You can also create a ribbon cable by hand sewing the parallel traces onto the ribbon, though it is much slower. Also, if the traces are hand sewn, there will be conductive thread on both sides of the ribbon, so an additional insulating layer of fabric or ribbon will be needed when you attach the LEDs.