Silverell Conductive thread from 2008. 75 yard spool. Unfortunately as of 2012 Silverell changed its manufacturing and/or supplier and this style/quality of thread is no longer available. Their website is also difficult to navigate, doesn’t provide data sheets, and doesn’t have product images. This supplier is a challenging place to shop for the eTextile novice.    

  2 ply Stainless Steel wound on a 75 yard spool. This conductive thread frays at the ends and is pesky to work with. If you want a stainless steel thread I suggest the 4 ply as it provides more stability and less resistance.    

  Speed up the creation of your electronic traces by using a double needle on your home sewing machine to sew parallel traces!   Needle size from left to right: 2mm size 90 3mm size 90 4mm size 90 6mm size 100     The resistance of an 8 inch trace using a top conductive thread from Mitsifuji is 14 […]

  Use a cording foot with a zig-zag stitch to sew electric at wire to fabric.   This is a Bernina Cording Foot what has two grooves in which to guide the wires for parallel traces.   By using a matching colored bobbin thread the traces are easily identified.   This process can work with a wide variety of wire […]

  Certain conductive threads will work with your home sewing machine’s embroidery stitches. Select your thread, needle, and fabrics wisely Sew lots of test samples Create unique switches and electronic traces!   FABULOUS!  

  Sew traces with conductive thread and red or black bobbin threads to indicate the electrical polarity. Adjust the tension allowing the bobbin thread to pull thru to the fashion fabric so that the polarity is easily determined. Reverse side of the fabric clearly shows the bobbin thread. Keep bobbins wound and ready for action.  

  When using conductive thread in a sewing machine choose a needle with a large eye so the thread will flow smoothly and not fray.   I use a Schmetz 90/14 embroidery needle on both my industrial machine as well as my Bernina 180.     For hand sewing conductive thread my favorite needle is a John James Chenille size […]

This years Valentine’s Day tutorial appears more complex than Stabby Valentine or the Hello Kitty Punchy Valentine, but thats just because of the  fancy French Knots! Look beyond the embroidery and you’ll find a basic LED circuit with some hidden gems on how to sew with conductive thread, mark traces, and hide the circuitry. In the end the Heart Pillow […]

  Threading a hand sewing needle with conductive thread can be an impossible task. The thread is too fat. The eye of the need to small. The thread frays and splits. And once you finally get the thread thru the eye of the needle you realize the needle is too large to fit thru the electronic hardware. Frustrating, yes? Try […]

So many options for 3V CR2032 coin cell battery holders to sew into eTextile projects.