Closeup of Silverell thread from 1 pound spool purchased in 2009 and Mitsifuji thread.     This macroscopic view allows you to see the twisted ply of the thread. The twist is what holds the thread together allowing for smooth sewing.    

  LED shipment from electron.com   Even with overnight shipping from Prague these are least expensive LEDs with consistent quality control.

    Short circuits in eTextiles are frequently caused by conductive thread frays and whiskers. Select your conductive thread carefully to minimize the risks. When sewing traces that are in close proximity I use a small diameter and well plied thread such as Mitsifuji. When the traces have an inch or more space between them, as when connecting LEDs, I […]

RESISTANCE thread does not register continuity or resistance hand sewn 8” trace does not register continuity or resistance machine sewn top thread 8” trace does not register continuity or resistance machine sewn bottom thread 8” trace does not register continuity or resistance THREAD QUALITY easy to thread a size 24 crewel needle easy to sew by hand as well as machine thread is wound […]

  How to set up a breadboard circuit for ATtiny45 to blink five LEDs in sequence.     BREADBOARD CONNECTIONS ATtiny Pin 0 to LED positive (signal, white) ATtiny VCC (+) to power positive (+, red) ATtiny GND (-) to power negative (-, black) LED negative to resistor (breadboard connection) Resistor to negative power (-, black) repeat for Pin 1, […]

  RESISTANCE hand sewn 8” trace has a resistance of 10 ohms machine sewn top thread 8” trace has a resistance of 42 ohms machine sewn bottom thread 8” trace has a resistance of 16 ohms THREAD QUALITY easy to thread a size 24 crewel needle does not fray or whisker easy to sew by hand as well as machine […]

  Preparing for a workshop takes double the time to teach the workshop.   SHopping for the supplies.   Programing microcontrollers, packaging the tiny electronic parts, and then fitting everything into a suitcase.   Its all behind the scene, but without rigorous preparation the workshop will suffer.

  Red LEDs are electron hogs. They will always be the first to glow and even prevent other LEDs from illuminating.     When designing your circuits be sure to isolate the red LEDs from other colors otherwise you’ll have a darkwad in the final design.   read more on LEDs at wikipedia