5. E-textiles

I never thought I’d be working with electronics

Coming from a business background and being a fashion girlie, it’s not exactly what I pictured for myself. But here I am, a week later, leaning into this fascinating world!

Claudia introduced us to how electronics work, how they can be integrated into fashion, and how we can create something unique and alive. It was a whole new language for me, so I’m breaking it down as I understood it:

Power Source: A battery to fuel everything.

Light: The fun part—in our case, an LED or NeoPixel. PS: We’ll discover more possibilities during wearables week!

Switch: To control the flow of power. It could be digital or analog.

Resistor: A superhero keeping our circuit from overheating (and burning the LEDs!).

In electronics, a circuit is a complete circular path that electricity flows through. A simple circuit consists of a current source, conductors, and a load. The term circuit can be used in a general sense to refer to any fixed path that electricity, data, or a signal can travel through.

— TechTarget

I started with the most basic circuit ever—just connecting the positive and negative of the light to the corresponding sides of the battery.

💡Pro tip: Trial and error were my best teachers this week (and maybe a bit of fear about short circuits and accidental fires).

Getting Hands-On with Arduino

We played with the Arduino UNO, and the first thing we learned was how to make its tiny built-in LED blink.

void setup() {
  // Initialize the LED pin as an output
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); // Turn the LED on
  delay(1000);                    // Wait for 1 second
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); // Turn the LED off
  delay(1000);                    // Wait for 1 second
}

After that, we used a breadboard so we can udnerstand how we should connect the circut and integrate the elements.

Circuts has two types, paraller and series.

parallel circuit, components are connected across multiple paths, so the current can flow through each independently. If one path fails, the other paths remain functional. The voltage across each component is the same.

Series Circuits In a series circuit, components are connected end-to-end in a single path. The same current flows through all components, but the voltage divides among them. If one component fails, the entire circuit stops working.

We also were introduced to the velostat! the velostat is a fabric resistor! which we will use when whe embede our circut into the fabric

We also explored the types of switches! 1. Digital switches: They are like a regular light switch—just on or off, nothing in between.

1. Analog switches: They are like a dimmer switch—you can adjust them to any level, not just fully on or off.

Then we leveled up:

working with NeoPixels, which are RGB LEDs that can create all kinds of colors and effects.

To use NeoPixels, we had to install a special library in the Arduino software.

Install the Adafruit NeoPixel Library

1. Open the Arduino IDE.

2. Go to Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries.

3. In the Library Manager, search for Adafruit NeoPixel.

4. Select the library and click Install.

After that, it was coding time! I decided to try and make the NeoPixels glow blue—simple, but super satisfying.

#include 

#define NUM_PIXELS 7
#define NEOPIXEL_PIN 6

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(NUM_PIXELS, NEOPIXEL_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

void setup() {
  strip.begin();          // Initialize the NeoPixel strip
  strip.show();           // Turn off all pixels initially
}

void loop() {
  strip.fill(strip.Color(255, 0, 0)); // All pixels red
  strip.show();
  delay(1000);                        // Wait 1 second

  strip.fill(strip.Color(0, 255, 0)); // All pixels green
  strip.show();
  delay(1000);                        // Wait 1 second

  strip.fill(strip.Color(0, 0, 255)); // All pixels blue
  strip.show();
  delay(1000);                        // Wait 1 second
}

Bringing Textiles to Life

The big challenge was combining circuits with textiles to create something alive.

We used conductive thread to replace wires, which meant stitching circuits into fabric. Smaller, stitch-friendly Arduinos like the Gemma were perfect for this. We also integrated velostat as a resistor—it’s flexible and works great for wearable designs. It’s wild to think about how much I’ve learned in just one week. Electronics in fashion felt impossible at first, but now I can’t wait to experiment more with lights, movement, and maybe even sound.

My first experiment with creating a textile circuit was an attempt to combine both analog and digital buttons into one circuit. The idea was to explore and understand the dynamics of e-textiles—because, to be honest, I had no idea what we were doing at first!

I created a one-line circuit using stitched conductive thread. I stitched one thread on the plus (+) side of the LED and another on the minus (-) side, ensuring they didn’t overlap or short.

To hide the circuit and keep it visually appealing, I used a wide running stitch for the plus side and stitched the minus side in the gaps of the plus. This kept the design clean and functional.

Finally, I crafted a copper-padded pocket for the battery, allowing it to sit securely and connect neatly with the circuit. The result was both practical and aesthetically pleasing!