Intro

Vest_walking_reduced_large

Here are detailed instructions for putting electronics into a specially designed vest, along with several examples of projects that incorporate active lighting within the vest. I started this project while on sabbatical at Bloorview Kids Rehab, a hospital for children with a range of disabilities located in Toronto, during the fall of 2008. The project was designed to experiment with and showcase the incorporation of electronics into clothing. My first project with the vest consisted of developing a Christmas scene using fiber optics cable. My second project, realized in the late spring of 2010, was to incorporate a sequential band of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) into one of the side seams of the vest. Both projects are shown and explained in detail. I also provide ideas about additional projects that can be done, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this particular design, with a view to proposing several improvements.

Technique Materials

black cotton with a felt-like surface, black bemberg lining, black thread, conducting thread, wiring, batteries, fiber optic cable, an LED sequential strip, a controller for the LED strip, inverters for the fiber optics cables, metal snap fasteners, electrician's tape, banana plugs, a cloth switch. Ideally a soldering iron should also be used. Note that youu need to have some basic knowledge of electricity to do this project

2 Comments

  • Sam_0020_large

    Dec 17, 2010, 02.45 PMby wardrobe-cat

    Thankyou SSSOOOOOO much!!! I’ve wanted to put lighting into garments for years, but never had the electronic know-how to do so. I did have a mad idea a few years ago about putting speakers in a ball gown…

  • Me_large

    Jun 22, 2010, 11.45 PMby reliablechef

    cool

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