Fascinated by felting
It has become fully apparent that if you want to keep up on what I’m making in anything approaching real-time, you should be following me on twitter (if you’re a non-tweeter, you can follow this RSS feed instead). It’s so much quicker to toss out a link there, and I’m way more sporadic about writing on the blog. However, I’ve got a lot to share, so I decided I should finally come post an update over here!
First off, I wanted to mention that eTextile Tuesdays are picking up steam. Along with the eTextile Worksessions every other Tuesday at BrainSilo, Lynne Bruning is also hosting the eTextile Lounge: a global hackerspace every Tuesday night on uStream. So if you’re in Portland, come by the hackerspace to work, talk shop, and watch the ustream… and if not, jump on the ustream chat and participate from there!
Secondly, I seem to have picked up a new medium! I started needle felting earlier this year and I am totally smitten. I’ve been felting like a fiend, and playing with incorporating electronics into felted projects as well. The Starfield Fascinator at the top of this entry is a felted and beaded hair accessory that uses Aniomagic’s sparkle board to make the LEDs twinkle in various patterns – I hope to have video to post of it soon.
This is the Prince of All Cosmos, from Katamari Damacy, as rendered in wool.
The Prince of All Cosmos is a character from the wacky and much beloved Japanese video game Katamari Damacy – if you’ve played it, you’ll understand exactly why he’s standing behind that orange. He has a battery pocket in his back that works as a pressure switch, so the LED in his antenna lights up whenever his belly is squeezed. I’ve put up an instructable with everything you need to make your own, if you’re a fan. I did get a video of him, which you can take a look at below.
Bay Area Maker Faire has come and gone, as well – along with all of the awesome makers and made things, it was great to see the eTextile community pulling together there. I hope to see the group efforts continue and grow from here – for one, it’s really nice to be able to share booth-watching responsibilities with a group… being at Maker Faire without the chance to go look around is really a form of geek-torture!
Speaking of Maker Faires, fellow Cascadians should really check out the Vancouver BC Mini Maker Faire coming up June 25-26. I’ll be headed up to create an eTextile showcase, and I’ll be selling Sewing Electrified kits there, as well as potentially some finished works. It sounds like it’s going to be a ton of fun. Don’t let the ‘mini’ designation fool you – they’ve got 2 large buildings booked as well as outdoor space, so I’m sure there will be plenty to keep you in awe. I’m planning to debut 3(!) new LED embroidery kits there – and yes, that means that the contest winners will be announced soon! The designs are ready, but I’m making some additional upgrades to the kits – once I’ve got all my ducks in a row and the first set of new kits are ready to mail out, the announcement will go up.
Before I sign out, I should also mention that I’m looking to do more in the way of teaching. I’ve got a few things in the works, but if you’re aware of an organization or school that would like to host me to teach a class or workshop on sewn electronics, needle felting, or a combination thereof, drop me a line!
