Peel-and-stick LEDs give traditional needlework new sparkle.
What better way to show your love this Valentine’s Day than with embroidery and electricity! In this tutorial you’ll get to use up some of your scrap fabrics, embroider your own personal message, and add some sparkle using light-up LED Circuit Stickers. The electronic part is quick and easy — no soldering is required! With the embroidering, this project will take about 3 hours.
Draw your design with your personal message onto the cotton fabric. I decided to sew on the words “You’re Sew Electric!”
TIP: If you’re keen on a particular font, just print your message from your computer out onto paper and then trace the words onto the fabric against the light of a window or glass door.
I used a back-stitch for my letters. Remember not too pull too tight on the embroidery floss, or the fabric will be dimpled.
Decide where you want your LED lights to be.
Draw out your circuit on the front side of the stabilizer (not on your fabric) and carefully lay out your copper tape and LEDs, remembering where the positive and negative ends are. Take extra care not to let the positive and negative ends of the circuit touch — you don’t want a short circuit!
Finally, using the conductive thread and sewing needle, join the copper tape to the coin cell battery holder. Put the battery holder on the back side of the stabilizer so you can access it when the project is assembled.
Cut your scrap fabric into ½” strips. Carefully glue and wrap the strips around the embroidery hoop. Allow to dry before proceeding to Step 5.
Place your electric circuit beneath the embroidered fabric and insert it into the embroidery hoop.
Insert the coin cell battery into the battery holder and surprise your loved one!
