‘How to get what you Want‘ is certainly the first address every eTextile enthusiast working or planning textile electronic projects. It’s full of amazing tips and tricks coming from Hannah Perner-Wilson, one of the sites main contributor.

New techniques are added very frequently so check out ‘How to get what you Want’ again and again. I am only giving here on talk2myShirt occasional reminders and re-posting about new items which completely amaze me like the fabric PCB etching by using a solution of vinegar and salt and Vaseline as resist.

The term ‘innovating on a kitchen table’ has never before been so literally as with this amazingly simple but highly innovative technique.

The recipe for this technological soup is very simple: 100ml vinegar mixed with 7ml salt. Take copper polyester Taffeta fabric from LessEMF for example, cover your layout with Vaseline and put it into the eTextile circuit fabric etching solution.

Out comes a clean etched copper pattern on a off-white textile substrate.

For a much more detailed background description, the different materials that could or might be used, check out the article at ‘How to get what you Want‘. Via Hannah’s Flickr stream you can see a load of photos of different layout artwork and the processing steps.

I am truly stunned by this technique which not only allows a simple way to etch PCB specifically for textile electronic it also allows to make artwork out of traces that usually made from straight lines, integrating the electronic needs (connecting traces) into the aesthetic of a wearable electronic design.

Adrian Freed, Research Director of UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) compiled the self-proclaimed ‘world’s largest collection of e-textile materials and associated tools‘ and having spend a very long time browsing through the collection I can confirm his proclamation.

Adrian pioneered many new applications of mathematics, electronics and computer science to audio, music and media production tools. His recent work is centered around sharing new techniques for rapid prototyping interactive devices employing electro textiles next to other emerging materials.

The CNMAT Resource Library he build up contains sections for sensors, gestural controllers, interface devices, tools, prototypes a materials section with many links to eTextile resources.

The huge collection of sensors and other UI techniques is highly interesting as design concepts based on wearable electronic technologies are often centered around user interfacing, using clothing to interact with electronics either integrated into garments or the garment serves as interface for connected portable devices.

After having created the CNMAT Resource Library Adrian set out to compile the Portable eTextile Electronics Lab ‘the smallest winning subset that can form a portable lab‘ which could be used as textile designer’s survival kit – so to speak.

You can add your comments and suggestions to this project directly to Adrian’s blog page and help to make the Portable eTextile Electronics Lab perfect.

PS: due to my hectic travel schedule lately I was not able to keep up with daily posting. Now I’m back at home base and the daily talk2myShirt articles will be up again.

The high-low tech team at MIT under the lead of eTextile innovator Leah Buechley started a very interesting project called LilyPond, a eTextile Web community and place for collaboration and sharing of eTextile projects.

LilyPond is aiming to pond the LilyPad community and to provide support for people who want to design and create soft, interactive circuits with the LilyPad Arduino toolkit.

Currently there are over 60 projects posted on the LilyPond site with a short description. The tutorial and resource pages are not yet in operation.

The LilyPond project team Leah Buechley, Emily Lovell, Kanjun Qiu and Linda Delafuente created a site which will become over time a great place to find infos around eTextile materials and techniques and a place to share eTextile designs with the community.

Even though some of the site’s functions are not yet available, browsing through the many project intros already available will serve as inspirational trip through the e-Textile world.

Riding a bicycle by night, especially in areas with street lights far apart requires good lighting on the bike. To increase the visibility and with it the safety of bikers, illumination of a bikers clothing is a wise choice only – there are very few commercial products on the market.

Most biking enthusiasts know first hand how important good visibility is and resort to DIY to get what the market is not yet offering – active illuminated biking shirts.

The most advanced design – functionally – comes from Insturctables member dmallen. He designed the ‘Light Up Cycling Jersey‘ to draw attention to the rider, to indicate with light signals when he/she is accelerating or slowing down or turning.

When riding with constant speed the lights will stay on constantly but if there is a change in speed, especially important when slowing down or making a turn, the lights will start flashing.

This design uses two types of light sources, LEDs and EL wires which are controlled by the LilyPad-Light Sensor, LilyPad-Accelerometer and Lilypad-Arduino. Yeah – this smart Jersey will switch on automatically when it gets too dark and extra visibility is needed for save cycling.

The jersey is designed to allow the detachment of element like EL wiring and batteries for a safe washing of the jersey.

A very complex but also very smart Cycling Jersey but with the instructions from dmallen, including the LilyPad source-code, the somewhat experienced eTextile seamstress will have no problem to make a smart and save cycling jersey.

Riccardo Marchesi started around a year ago the online shop Plug and Wear to provide the eTextile community with a one-stop-shop offering eTextile designer a large selection of materials for wearable electronic projects.

The relative new area of wearable electronic with it’s specific eTextile components does not yet have a structure of well established resources, online and offline, such as electronics, knitting, sewing or textiles offer to the DIY community.

Over the past 12 month Riccardo not only managed to get a good selection of components into the Plug and Wear shop, he added sections offering very interesting Tutorials to demonstrate and inspire people who plan to design eTextile projects.

The Tutorials from Riccardo offer simple to follow step by step instructions documented with many photos and a detailed explanation about the underlying theory providing a solid background knowledge of eTextile components and materials. Equipped with these information one can build own projects rather than simply replicate the introduced example.

Point in case: the recently added Soft Potentiometer tutorial with a guide to build an analog input component using a metal ring and knitted, conductive ribbon. Sliding up or down the ribbon length can be used to control the light intensity of a connected LED, volume adjustment for an Audio player and similar, variable input requiring designs.

The Soft Potentiometer is available at Plug and Wear as Kit including the knitted conductive ribbon and the metal ring.

A interesting variant for a soft, textile based interface for wearable electronic designs.

Flex sensors are a often used elements in eTextile projects as they give indication of movement or pressure events in interactive wearable electronic objects.

Plusea has made a large range of stretch and pressure sensors using neoprene and conductive yarn as the key elements.

Instructable member jiovine made a Bi-Directional Flex Sensor using copper foil laminate like it is used in the electronics industry and heat shrink tubing as enclosure.

Placing two copper clad foils face to face with a resistive layer cut from a black plastic poly bag in which usually sensitive electronic components are stored in between and the sensor is ready to use.

Component storing plastic bags are made of carbon-loaded polyethylene – so don’t throw away these bags next time you order some components.

The sweet thing of self-made flexible bend and force sensors is you can make them quickly in any size and shape.

This particular DIY Flex sensor comes from the robotic area but it will be very useful for wearable electronic projects as well. Maybe you have easier access to one or the other set of materials needed for a flex sensor or maybe this copper foil based ‘plastic’ or the textile based flex sensor fit better in a project you are working on.

Robotics and wearable electronic have an overlapping area of interest as robotics is using soft, flexible and electrified elements that suit wearable electronic as well.

Interactive clothing is attracted the interest of performers who are experimenting with the possibilities technology enhanced costumes to add a new dimension of interaction to their shows.

You might say this is not new, costumes have always been one of the attention points of performances. Yes, this is correct but by embedding technologies these costumes can create their own activity, interacting with the performer instead of being passive, an eye candy or a static representation.

Wearable technologies, in itself mostly in the experimental stage, have been adopted by the highly creative area of art and performance.

The creators and designers of experimental, interactive costumes often share their creation to inspire others to build upon, to add their creative line.

The Instructable of the ‘Wireless Dance Costume‘ is a team work of Eric Lindsay (Composer), Amy Burrell and Jay Garst (Costume Designer), Utam Moses (Choreographer) and Benjamin Zaitlen and Alex Jacobs (Software and Hardware Design).

Using LilyPad components and XBee together with pressure and flex sensors and connecting everything with conductive thread will detect and transmit the movements and interactions of a dancer or a group of  dancer between them or to a ‘base station’ which can use the signals of the individual dancers to generate sound, change the lighting in sync with the movements or trigger light or other costume transforming actions on other dancers.

Interactive – with emphasis on active – stage wear will add another dimension to the special effects like stage lightning, sound and all the other visual and audible stimulus techniques choreographer use to captivate, to fascinate the audience.

Soft electronic innovator Meredith Scheff, we posted about her Sew-through circuit board, showed her latest creation the North-Skirt during the eTextile Fashion Show @ Maker Faire in May.

Based on the North-Paw kit from Sensebridge and her newly developed StarBoards, the North Skirt has vertical rows of LEDs whereby the row which is pointing to the North will light up.

Turn around and you ignite a sparkle on the skirt. Simple but visually very appealing. Check out the Make Magazine YouTube video and see the North Skirt in action.

I like direction reacting animations on clothing, the type of interactivity that (re)acts on the environment, in this case the wearers position to the magnetic North Pole.

A detailed overview of the ‘making-off’ can be found via steampunkworkshop – interesting and inspirational.

As interesting as the design concept of the North Skirt are the StarBoards Meredith developed, based on her experiments with flexible, sew-through circuit boards.

The StarBoards (I love the name) offer an easy way to make soft circuit projects. StarBoards are flexible, iron-on PCBs allowing to sew through with a sewing machine and conductive thread to connect SMD components to the eTextile circuit. They can also be soldered on directly with regular wire or hand stitched.

Because you sew right through the pads, the connection is made with the stitch and it minimizes the need for knotting the thread.

Best of all, Meredith is offering the StarBoards via her Etsy Shop or a StarBoard beta kit ready to use for your eTextile design.

Once again, thanks Lynne for pointing me to this amazing design.

What better day than our ‘usual’ Saturday posting around DIY eTextile project to introduce ‘Soft Circuit Saturdays‘ from Angela Sheehan, who is organizing  a DIY/Maker crafting group around soft circuits in New Hampshire/Boston area.

Angela discovered her interest into e-textiles, craft technology and wearable computing during her time at Bennington College.

Her research and interest led to a project called REACTIVEfashion, a collaboration with Rebecca Grabman by experimenting with eTextile in the context of interactive costumes.

The ‘Soft Circuit Saturdays’ is a paradise to DIY eTextile enthusiasts, full of information, tutorials, links to other resources and most important – the ‘Soft Circuit Saturdays’ event calendar and workshop postings.

For our international readership that can not attend in person one of Angela’s ‘Soft Circuit Saturdays’  I can highly recommend to add this site to the bookmarks and use it as inspirational source whenever you plan your next eTextile project.

The folks over at Aniomagic have made a weight sensitive backpack. Note the emphasis is on weight sensitive and not weight sensing.

Using Aniomagic’s fabulous smart eTextile components and a force sensitive resistor you can create a cool light animation on any bag.

It won’t tell you how much weight you are lugging around – at least not a very accurate measurement – but it allow to give some animated sparkle to bags as you carry around all your important stuff.

Maybe even integrated into jeans – at the bottom area – can light you up a bit every time you sit down.

To make this pressure sensitive light is easy with the Schemer components of Aniomagic and their detailed DIY instruction on their project site.

All you need is your imagination on where you could use this design concept. I love these little projects – easy to be done but full of potential to create unique charms for personalization – it’s something different as one can buy in those charm shops.