Make An Interactive Garment: Intro to Wearables

Make An Interactive Garment: Intro to Wearables - Workshop Series

Take this fun and comprehensive Introduction to Wearables, a series of three workshops in March. It’s the perfect introduction for fashion designers, aspiring product designers, crafting lovers, and students of all stripes to learn about interaction design, soft circuitry and electronic basics, and microcontroller programming. Students will get hands on experience programming circuits, DIY sensors, sewing with conductive materials, and materializing their own designs. By the end, students will finish an interactive garment or accessory.

Students should bring a laptop and a garment/fabric/accessory (e.g. hat, glove, shirt, etc) that he/she wants to transform into an interactive one.

Included in the workshop for each student is a Wearables Materials Kit of electronic components (microcontroller, accelerometer, sewable LEDS, lipo battery, conductive thread) and access to tools at The Makery to bring your project to life.

Pictured is an example project: A dress where LEDS change color and brightness based on a wearer’s body movements. The instructor will coach students to sketch out their ideas to create their own interactive garment with different interactions.

This workshop happens over the course of three Sundays, enabling you to get deeper into your project.

Session 1: Introduction of interaction design, weareables and soft circuitry

Session 2: Microcontroller basics, programming sensor and LEDs

Session 3: Final project programming and assembling