Simple Sewn Circuit

This is a great project to get students started on sewn circuits. I would recommend teaching students about paper circuits first and then move on to this project.

If you are new to sewn circuits or would like a helpful slideshow about sewn circuits see: here

What you will need in addition to the picture above:

1) Regular thread

2) Conductive Thread

3) Sewing Needle

*Note: You can laser cut felt really nice if you have one available.

Step 1: Step 1: Where to Put Your Light?

Choose the location of your LED and mark it with a pen.

Curl the legs of the LED.

Step 2: Step 2: Choose the Location of Your Battery and Map Your Route

Map the route of your positive and negative sewn threads. Note that you will sew in a criss-cross pattern other either side of the battery, ensuring that your threads don't cross and you short circuit.

Step 3: Step 3: Start Sewing!

With conductive thread sew from each red dot, ensuring that you are looping around the end of your LED leg 4-6 times before moving on to the battery pack, where you will cross-hatch each side of your battery connection.

*The battery pack is sewn on with regular thread after the conductive is in place. Remeber to terminate your ends after finishing the "+" and "-" sides of your circuit.

Step 4: Step 4: Sew Around the 'Pretty Felt Picture'

With regular thread sew around the pretty felt picture, sealing in the sewn circuit and leaving a gap for the battery to fit. Hold your battery in place with a paper clip. Cheapest battery pack ever.

Comments

[TW19]

Sorry, but I'm lost. This hasn't shown me anything really. It doesn't show where or how to sew. It assumes far too much prior knowledge. Your "helpful slide show" isn't helpful either! It's a recycled university assignment designed to be shown in conjunction with printed instructions to a class of students who have some concept of what to do.

It just needs more steps and images. Saying things like "you will crosshatch each side of your battery connection" isn't a stand-alone instruction.

Also, check your spelling and grammar :)

[AmberO16]

Hi TW19, Thank you for taking the time to review this project. I will work on filling in the steps, as you suggested. I'm sorry if I frustrated you. Please know that you are helping me learn how to be a better Instructables creator. I will reference your Instructables to get a better idea of how to do things. Do you mind helping me correct my grammar and spelling? I obviously cannot do this myself and would greatly appreciate it. I understand if you don't have time. Respectfully, AO

[TW19]

Hi Amber (I have a daughter called Amber. Your parents had good taste in name selection)

I hope I didn't come across as too critical. I was fascinated by the idea of a sewn circuit, and I could probably work out what to do from your instructions, but there are times I would struggle to bridge the gap, like knowing what stitches to use to create the circuit - is a simple - - - - type stitch ok, or would it lose conductivity that way? Would I need to use backstitch ----- etc? What would someone want to make one for, or what could you make with one?

Where do you purchase conductive thread? I can't say I've ever seen it down at the fabric store. Where would you find LEDs? And other seemingly simple questions like what do you curl the LED legs with? There's no pliers on your list of requirements.

In regards to the video - it doesn't help and it's obvious it's a slideshow for a class assignment for people that have already learned the basics of creating these circuits. A quick Google search brought up these videos that may be more appropriate to use:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=what+are+sewn+c...

What material can you use to make them? What is best, and why (strength, ability to hold shape, etc)? I can tell you've used felt, but some people may not know that. What size pieces do you need? Also, you change from a pink item to a blue one at the end. People may wonder if they've somehow missed the part where you turn it over, or replace the fabric, or colour it in with a Sharpie, or whatever made the finished product different to the one that was made throughout the tutorial.

What does cross hatching stitching look like? Photos showing stitches in place would be great!

This whole sentence was impossible for me to understand. I've marked the areas that assume prior knowledge and would prevent most people from using your instructable with **.

The battery pack is sewn on with regular thread after **the conductive** is
in place. Remeber to **terminate your ends** after finishing **the "+" and
"-" sides of your circuit**.

And I'm not sure if you have already done a quick tidy up or not, but there doesn't seem to be all that many spelling/grammar sins. Check on "remember" in the last sentence though as it's missing an "m".

I hope this helps!

Regards,

Tracy.

[Zhuna87]

Nice project, but it is a copy from "SparkFun Electronics"

[AmberO16]

Can you send me the link, please?

[AmberO16]

Oh, I didn't realize. Do you think I should I take it down?