TABLE OF CONTENTS 3. 7. Are you ready? MATERIALS CHECKLIST BASIC SEWING ROJECT 15. PGUIDE 22. T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G OWL 25.
Y OU R MATERIAL S 2X COINCELL BATTERIES This small battery can provide power and fit in tight places. You can connect this to your circuit for power—just make sure that the positive side connects to the positive end and the negative side (or ground) connects to the negative end. 1X SEWABLE COINCELL BATTERY HOLDYou also have a sewable battery holder in your kit, with conductive holes marked as positive and negative.
Y OU R MATERIAL S 1X CROSS STITCH CLOTH This is your prototyping canvas. The holes in the cloth help you sew the thick conductive thread through the cloth. You can draw and stitch your favorite fabric circuit design onto this cloth! 1X SPOOL OF CONDUCTIVE THREAD This thread has silver strands which are conductive. The silver in the thread lets electrons pass through the thread and allows it to carry or transmit power and signals through a circuit.
Y OU R MATERIAL S 1X SEWING NEEDLE This is what you will use to sew your project together. Be careful, the needle has a sharp point! 1X EMBROIDERY HOOP (Retail box version only) This is a tool used to hold fabric in place. To use: unscrew the bolt so the rings come apart, then place your fabric flat in between them and tighten the bolt. We recommend you practice sewing with your hoop, and then take apart the project and sew the lights on a new piece, unless you are an experienced seamstress.
ADDITION AL TO O L S A ND MA TE RIA L S Here is a list of tools and supplies that complement your set. We also encourage you to combine this set with other Teknikio sets.
This guidebook teaches you how to sew light circuits into your own creations.
BAS IC CIRCUITS The next section will provide a review of basic electronics and how a circuit works. Things to remember: A CIRCUIT IS ALWAYS A LOOP. ELECTRICITY FLOWS FROM POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE AROUND THE LOOP. EVERYTHING IN THE CIRCUIT MUST BE ORIENTED IN THE SAME DIRECTION FOR THE CIRCUIT TO WORK. ANYTIME A COMPONENT IS PUT INTO THE CIRCUIT BACKWARDS, IT CAUSES A BREAK IN THE CIRCUIT, MEANING IT BREAKS THE LOOP. Flow o f e l e ctr icity ELECTRICITY WILL ALWAY TAKE THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE.
CROS S-STITCH SWITCH OUTPUT B R RESISTANCE Restricts the rate at which electrons flow through the circuit. Conductive materials have different resistances G The output, or part that is powered in a circuit. The LEDs and buzzer are loads in your kit. CIRCUIT The flow of electrons across the circuit, carried by conductive materials. measured in amps. POWER SOURCE Provides power to the circuit. Yours is the coincell battery 9 SWITCH Closes and opens a break in the circuit.
SHORT CIRCUITS If you were to connect the circuit line in the diagram to the left, the current will flow through the shorter (yellow) path and skip the path that connects to the LED. This will result in a short circuit—a short circuit is basically equivalent to connecting from the positive end of the power source to the negative, without putting anything in between. This will drain or “burn out” your battery very quickly. You should always make sure there are no short circuits in your design.
Ba s i c Sewing
HOW TO THREA D A NE E DL E Cut some thread.
HOW T O SEW Take your Cross Stitch Cloth, your threaded needle, and a Sewable LED. First, place the LED where you want to sew it onto the cloth. Then, take your needle and thread and, starting from the back, push your needle through the cloth and the positive or negative pad of the LED. Loop the thread through the hole and cloth multiple times so the LED is secured tightly. After looping a few times, push the needle down through the hole next to the LED.
U SING YOUR EMB RO IDE RY H O O P Take your embroidery hoop Loosen the screw and take the hoops apart 14 Place your fabric between the hoops Put the hoops back together and tighten the screw
CROS S-STITCH C IRCU IT P RA CTICE There are 2 separate pieces of thread in this circuit: Sew one thread between the negative terminal of the negative side of the LED snip, snip Sew the other thread between the positive side of the battery and the positive side of the LED. It should light up. The red stitches indicate where the thread ends. Once you get to a red stitch or a hole on the board, tie a knot, cut the thread, and start with a new piece.
LIGHT UP YOUR EYES Owl project guide Want to make something else? Find more ideas and tutorials @ www.teknikio.
SEWING YOUR OW L do no t lo se any pieces! Cut out the owl pattern from the back of this guide onto the fabric of your choice. Make sure you know what each piece is for! Place the piece for the beak onto the front body piece and sew it on with non-conductive thread (Shown in blue). Sew the wings onto the body with non-conductive thread. So that it lays flat on the front of the owl's body and angles away from the body.
ATTACH THE EYE S Now take the front body piece and place two Sewable LED lights where you want the eyes. Sew a connection between like you did during your practice between the negative pads on each board. Don't forget to loop around the eye pads a couple of times. Take your Sewable Coincell Battery Holder and place it as close to the center of the belly as you can. Starting from the negative pad of the second LED that you just attached, sew to the negative pad on the battery.
SEWING THE CIRCU IT Re-thread your needle if you need. Now sew the two positive holes together on the eyes. Make sure not to touch the thread that connects the negatives to avoid a short circuit. Tie a knot and cut your thread. B Next, take the bottom side of one of the snaps and place it on the body below the battery holder to the right. Sew from the positive hole on the battery holder to the snap like in the diagram. Tie a knot and cut your thread.
ADD THE BACK A ND TH E S NA P S Working on the underside of the wing, sew the top side of the snap so that it matches up with the bottom snap when connected. Connect this snap with the positive pad on the right LED board. Tie a knot and cut your thread Now thread your needle with non-conductive thread. Take the belly panel and line it up with the bottom of the front panel .
STUFF THE OWL! in we go ! After you sew the bottom and sides of the body together, stuff with your cotton stuffing until the owl is as soft or firm as you like. After you have stuffed your owl, sew the top of his head shut with non-conductive thread so no stuffing spills out.
TEST YOUR OWL y ay ! new friends! Your owl is all done! Now all you have to do is make sure it works! Insert the battery into the batteryholder so the positive side is up. Take the wing with the snap and connect it to the snap on the body. The eyes should light up. Replace the battery when necessary by reaching in the belly. If they don't, refer to troubleshooting on page 21.
Troub l e s ho ot i n g
TROUBLESHOOTING The second common problem is a bad connection. This can happen anywhere your thread is connecting to a board or snap. Make sure all of these connections are tight and that the thread is making good contact with the silver surface on the boards and/or with the snaps. There are 2 common problems that can break the circuit. The first is that the positive and negative paths are crossing.
PATTERN
O WL PATTERN FRONT BACK 26
O WL PATTERN EYE BOTTOM WING BEAK BELLY 27
