It’s probably cliché at this point to say that I saw the movie TRON: Legacy and wanted my own light up clothing, but 1) it’s true, and 2) it’s easy to do with electroluminescent (EL) wire!
Luckily for me, the Maker Shed carries EZ-EL Starter Packs: 10- and 25-foot packs with a AA battery inverter that can power up to 100 feet of wire in red, sky blue, green, purple, orange, and white. I bought a futuristic-looking jacket on eBay and then added sky blue EL wire for some simple embellishment. Not exactly screen accurate, but I was really happy with the results.
EL wire is great to work with because it’s flexible and cool to the touch, and can be used out-of-the-box for non-TRON-like applications such as adding some sweet accents to your bike, backpack or laptop bag, holiday decorations, or whatever you can attach it to.
With a little soldering practice you can splice multiple wires to the inverter and make more intricate designs for clothing, art projects, and even wedding attire. You can tell people it’s for safety and visibility, sure, but it also looks awesome for everyday use.
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