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veeblefetzer - /vee'b*l-fetz'*r/ A purposely nonsensical sounding word applied to any sort of obscure or complicated object, e.g. a piece of computer code, model railroad equipment, auto parts, etc. But really, this veeblefetzer is not all that complicated. I promise. At the end of this tutorial, you'll have a cool little toy that lights up when you either touch it or push its switch.
Decide if you want your veeblefetzer to be turned on by squeezing or by
a metal button switch. If you select a button switch, you will need a
piece of leather in addition to the button switch. If you want your
veeblefetzer to be turned on by squeezing, you will need a fabric
switch.
Decide the shape you want for your veeblefetzer.
Pick up one each of things in your material list except for the last three items.
Trace your pattern onto your paper. If your pattern has a fold line, this will be a good time to trace the whole thing out.
Cut out your paper pattern. You should now have a shape that looks similar to what your final shape will be.
Place your fur on the table with the furry side down, trace your pattern onto the fur with a marker.
With your scissors, cut the faux fur so you are only cutting the
backing and not the actual fur. This method will be least messy.
Do the same (trace and cut your pattern) to your backing fabric. You do not need to cut your middle layer fabric.
On the back of the fur fabric, mark out where you want the LEDs to be (and button switch if you are doing that).
We have found that a nice clean way to incorporate LEDs onto fabric is
with grommets. So, our next step will be installing grommets in the
areas where you have marked for your LED.
Optional: if your fur is thin or stretchy, attach some interfacing
where the grommets will be attached. If you don't have interfacing, you
can always hot glue a thicker piece of cloth on. The basic idea is to
give the grommets a thick enough piece of cloth to grab onto.
Make a small hole where the grommet is to be attached. Do not make the
hole too big. Because the fabric is a little stretchy, it's actually
better to make smaller holes and force the grommet through than to make
the hole too big.
Attach the grommets. (see grommet packet instructions /diagrams)
Lay your fur (furry side up) over the middle layer fabric.
Use a permanent maker and mark the grommet holes onto the middle fabric. This is where you will sew on your LEDs.
If you are installing an metal switch, on the back of the fur fabric, mark out where you want the button switch to be.
For metal switches only:
Trace the back side of your button switch onto the leather piece. This
will be where you will fit in your button switch. So make sure to not
make it too big.
With your markings on the leather facing up, hot glue your leather
piece onto the back of the fur fabric, where you have marked for the
button switch.
Cut out your marking on the leather, through both the fur and the leather.
The idea behind making the LEDs light up is simple. You have a power
source (batteries) and you're sending power to the LEDs by connecting
them with some kind of conductive metal. A good analogy is to think of
your power source like a faucet and your LEDs are sprinkler heads
attached to the faucet with hoses. The electricity flows through the
wires into the LEDs like water flowing through hoses to the sprinkler
heads. So, with 2 LEDs, you have something like this.
Diagram 1
The only thing is that your faucet is so powerful, if you connect it to
your sprinkler heads directly, you would blow them out. So, you need to
put something in between the faucet and the sprinkler heads to lower
the pressure. This is where your resistor comes in. With the resistor
in the middle, you have something like this.
Diagram 2
Lastly, you need to make a complete circuit. Okay, the water analogy
doesn't quite work here. But the idea is to take the other end of the
LEDs and loop it back into the battery. So you have something like this.
Diagram 3
Also, unlike water, electricity has polarity. This just means that
electricity can only flow a certain way. We've all seen + and -
markings on batteries. All you have to remember is to flow from the
pluses to the pluses and the minuses to the minuses. This is VERY
IMPORTANT! Your circuit will not work if this is not right. Our final
picture looks like this.
Diagram 4
Take your LED, note the longer leg. The longer leg is the + part of the
LED (anode). I like to mark the longer leg with a permanent marker.
That way you can still tell which leg is which when they are bent into
a spiral.
Bend each leg of the LED 90 degrees so they look like this.
Bend each legs of the LED into a loop using pliers. (see pic on next page)
Bend each legs of the resistor (it's the one shaped like a small hourglass) into a loop using pliers. (see pic on next page)
Bend the exposed ends of each of the wires on the battery holder into
loops. Optional: Because the battery holder wires are soft, I sometimes
like to melt a little bit of solder on them to stiffen them up. You can
either do this now, or right before you sew them.
Place your LEDs onto the marked areas on the middle fabric(from step
1.12). Make sure the positives sides are pointing the same way!
Sew your LEDs onto the middle layer fabric using conductive thread and the loops on the LEDs. Sew and tie off each loop individually. Do NOT sew from one loop to another. Because the thread is conductive, if you sew from one loop to another, it will cause electricity to flow that way and we don't want that.
Place the middle fabric under the fur to make sure the LEDs push up
properly through the grommet holes. It's okay if you have to bunch up
your middle fabric a little to get the LEDs to fit.
Place the resistor on the side pointed to by the positive loops of the LEDs.
Sew the resistor onto the middle layer fabric using conductive thread and the loops on the resistors.
Using the conductive thread, sew a connection from the resistor to the
LEDs as in Diagram 4. You will end up with two lines of sewing, one
going to the first LED, and another going to the second LED. The
threads should not touch beyond their starting point. (we want a
parallel circuit, not a series).
Test your connections with some alligator clamps, do the LEDs light up??
A switch just lets you open or close a break in the flow of the
electricity. You can put it anywhere before or after the LEDs. I
personally like to put it after the LEDs, but it will work either way.
Diagram
First we will install the power source (the battery holder &
batteries). Optional: You can sew a little bag on your middle fabric
for your battery holder, or you can leave it hanging free. If you sew
the little bag make sure to position it so there is enough room for you
to move the battery holder in and out once it's attached.
Sew the positive end of the battery holder (the red wire) to the resistor.
Next we are going to attach the switch. There is no polarity with the
switches we have given you, so you can sew it without worrying about
the pluses and minuses of the switch. If you want a touch sensitive
toy, use a fabric switch here instead of the button switch shown in
these pictures.
If you are using a metal switch, remove the screws. You don't need them.
Sew from one end of the switch to the negative end of the LEDs.
Sew the other end of the switch into the negative end of the battery holder.
Do NOT sew from one end of the switch into the other end. Similar to
connecting the loops, sewing from one end to the other end of the
switch will cause electricity to flow into areas we don't want.
Test it again! Does it still all work?
We have found that with the conductive threads acting as wires, there is no insulation. So, it's quite easy for the threads to touch each other and cause shorts. A good way to prevent this is run a little bit of hot glue on everything as insulation.
Decide where you want to place the Velcro on the furry piece. This
section of Velcro will be the opening for your stuffing and
electronics. Make sure to space out the Velcro so your opening is big
enough to easily place and remove your electronics. Also, it will be
easier to sew if you pick an area with a nice straight seam.
Sew the Velcro in the seam allowance with a zigzag stitch on the furry side of the fur.
Match the fur with the backing piece, with the furry side face down on the backing piece.
Mark on your backing piece where the Velcro is on the fur.
Sew the Velcro in the seam allowance with a zigzag stitch.
Match the fur with the backing piece again, with the furry side face down on the backing piece.
Sew the two pieces together with a straight stitch. Do not sew over the
Velcro. It's easiest to sew to start from one end of the Velcro, sewing
away from the Velcro until you come in full circle to the other end of
the Velcro.
Turn it inside out. You have the shell!.
Fit the electronics inside, pushing the LEDs through the grommets.
If you are using a metal switch, cut a small hole in the fur and push the metal switch through.
Stuff it. The stuffing will help push the LEDs against the grommets.
And you are Done!!!
(pictures coming shortly)