How to add LED lights to your clothing for a fun and funky look!
Adding LED lights to your clothing can be great fun, and it’s also an effective way to show off the latest in fashion and personal lighting technology. While you’re not going to find these capabilities built into most shirts, that doesn’t mean you can’t add them yourself with just a few simple tools. Here are some tips to help you add wearable led lights for clothing in no time at all!
Getting started
There are a number of ways you can get started adding electronics to your fashion pieces. If you’re crafty or handy, you might be able to set up small circuits with conductive thread or fabric. This method allows you lots of freedom in how many LEDs and where exactly on your shirt/hat/vest/pants etc. these LEDs will be placed.
If you don’t have that kind of time or you want an easier way, there are some handy prefabricated kits that are available. These often feature LEDs, circuits, battery packs and everything else you need to make sure your shirt/hat/pants etc. glow in multiple colours. They also often come with control units so you can control what color/patterns it will be using a remote of some sort. There are kits like these by Adafruit that offer complete products as well as DIY options where you just provide stuff like copper tape, fabric and thread yourself.
The Basic Tools You Need
While it is relatively easy to put LEDs on almost any type of clothing, there are some basic things you’ll need in order to make it happen. The first thing you’ll need is some kind of lighting source – no matter what kind, LEDs will be attached in some way. Then you’ll need an appropriate power source that can power up your lighting.
You might also want a small microcontroller or switch so that you can turn them on and off or change their color or pattern easily. Finally, anything that gets connected should have connections placed onto it so that everything stays together properly with no short circuits.
If you’re looking to put LEDs onto clothing, there are a few different methods. One of them is something called threading, which involves making holes in pieces of fabric that you can then pass wires through. This requires sewing skills, but if you have them it provides strong and reliable connections. If you don’t want to sew or want something that doesn’t require as much effort, there are also special patches made just for adding LEDs onto clothes that only require ironing on using heat-activated adhesive.
Sewing the Lights in Place
It’s important to note that if you’re going to sew the lighted fabric onto an existing shirt, it helps if you use a dark-colored thread. Otherwise, whatever color thread you choose will be visible through your fabric and make it difficult to see any design elements such as embroidery or appliqué.
When sewing with conductive thread, be sure not to stitch in any loops or crosses because they could short out your circuits. Just simple straight stitches are best when attaching electronics components. And remember: You don’t have to sew each light onto every seam of your design just find an inconspicuous place on each side of your garment where you can anchor them securely but out of sight.
Once you’ve gotten all of your lighted fabric pieces sewn in place, you’ll want to switch on all of your lights so you can see if they’re working. If any don’t seem to be working, it could mean they have come unsoldered or aren’t seated properly in their respective spots. Make sure each is connected securely before continuing with other steps.
Connecting the Battery Pack
First, you’ll need to find yourself an old T-shirt. Make sure it’s got no holes in it; one of those would be counter-productive. Once you’ve found a suitable shirt, cut a small slit about 2 inches wide at each of your underarms. These are where you want to run your wires out of as well as where you want to add your battery pack. That’s why these spaces will also be where we connect our LEDs at too.
Run your wires through each slit in each of your underarms. You can now run them down past your hips, and if you’re wearing pants you should be able to feed them into one of your pockets without anyone noticing. Once you get them past any belt buckles, zippers or buttons, it’s time to attach them both at once. To do so, cut another small slit in either pocket about 2 inches wide and feed both wires out through it at once.
If you have more than 8 LEDs (the minimum amount of LEDs you need) then connect all eight together before connecting them all to one wire on your battery pack. For example, if you have 10 LEDs, then connect all 10 in series with each other, then attach that whole series to just one lead on your battery pack.
You can now run that long string of LEDs out through either slit in either pocket. The last thing we’ll do is attach our power switch. To do so, first cut another small slit in either pocket about 2 inches wide and feed both wires out through it at once. Now find yourself an old pen or something similar that will fit through there comfortably too but will still allow you to turn it on and off when needed.
Testing Your Lighted Shirt
A great way to figure out how long you want your LED lights to stay on before turning them off is by testing them out. Once you put all of your battery connections together, hook up some batteries or even plug them into an outlet via an adapter, place each light in place, snap it into its proper spot (make sure it has contact with your shirt), and turn it on.
The process will go much faster if you can get someone else there to help keep track of which light goes where while you fasten each one in place. After they’re all hooked up, have someone else flip a switch or hit an on the button and give everything time to test itself out.
