PROJECTS:
TIME REQUIRED:
A Weekend
DIFFICULTY:
Intermediate
COST:
$50–$70
MATERIALS
» Skirt You can sew a panel skirt or modify an
existing skirt.
» Fabric, semi-transparent For the outer layer.
If you’re sewing your own skirt, you’ll also need
a white cotton mid-layer, and a white polyester
lining fabric. The amount depends on your
sewing pattern and size (see Step 1).
» Hook-and-loop tape, 1cm wide (48cm total
length) aka Velcro tape
» WS2812B RGB LED strip, 60 LEDs/meter,
white, IP30 type (2 meters) Various IP30
clones are available at Amazon, eBay, or
AliExpress. Or you can try the weather resistant
IP65 version, Adafruit #1138, adafruit.com.
» Adafruit QT Py microcontroller board Adafruit
#4600
» LSM6DSO32 6-DOF accelerometer and
gyroscope Adafruit #4692
» 4-wire cable, JST SH female connectors,
50mm long Adafruit #4399
» Hookup wire in three colors
» Heat-shrink tubing
TOOLS
» Sewing machine
» Soldering iron and solder
» Wire cutters I used side-cutters.
MARTIN OEHLER lives in
northern Germany, where he
tinkers with addressable LEDs, 3D
printing, and Raspberry Pi projects.
Some of them are published at
instructables.com/member/
maketvee.
Addressable LEDs strips are a great and easy
way to add complex multicolor light effects to
any sort of object. Inspired by skirt projects from
Make: authors Debra Ansell (geekmomprojects.
com) and Becky Stern (beckystern.com), this
project integrates 120 LEDs into a skirt while
aiming to make it both as shiny and as wearable
as possible. The LEDs are installed only at the
front of the skirt to allow the wearer to sit down
or use the restroom without potentially breaking
the electronics. The LEDs and cables are
completely removable for washing.
The sewing was done by my wonderful
girlfriend, Sabine. She has been sewing her skirts
and dresses for decades now and creating her
own sewing patterns. But the LED integration
can be adapted to many other patterns, and
we’ve added some tips for sewing your own. For
this you’ll need some experience in sewing and
pattern construction.
But you can also add these LEDs to an existing
skirt — maybe one you don’t wear anymore —
and add a semi-transparent fabric on top to get
the same diffusion effect.
All electronics are hidden either in the skirt or
in a pocket at the back, so the skirt appears as
normal as possible when the LEDs are switched
off. By adding a 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope,
we can trigger effects by movement or rotation
in any direction, so there are many options to add
unique lighting patterns to the LEDs in the future.
Building this skirt will teach you the usage
of addressable LEDs in a simple matrix
arrangement (6×20), and you will get a lot of
attention wearing it. This is especially the case in
school environments (e.g., for STEM teachers) to
motivate kids doing LED projects and coding.
Uploading new code to the microcontroller
is very easy, so you can continue to learn and
Make a light-up
skirt with 120
hidden full-color
LEDs that respond
to your movements
53
makezine.com
M77_052-59_LEDskirt_F1.indd 53M77_052-59_LEDskirt_F1.indd 53 4/11/21 3:14 PM4/11/21 3:14 PM
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