The project roll ticks along, and I scramble to keep up with documenting it all. So it goes: the eternal crafters' struggle...
In this case, the project was a great instance of mutually-beneficial making: a friend wanted a snazzy scarf for her wedding that would make a splash at the evening reception, and she found this exquisite material to use. It's called "Luminous Fiber Optic Fabric" from Lumigram, which also offers all sorts of other fun light-up products. While I couldn't attend the wedding, I was pleased to put the finishing touches on in exchange for getting to play with this neat-o fabric.
It worked out well for both of us, in a symbiotic sort of way.
In this case, the project was a great instance of mutually-beneficial making: a friend wanted a snazzy scarf for her wedding that would make a splash at the evening reception, and she found this exquisite material to use. It's called "Luminous Fiber Optic Fabric" from Lumigram, which also offers all sorts of other fun light-up products. While I couldn't attend the wedding, I was pleased to put the finishing touches on in exchange for getting to play with this neat-o fabric.
It worked out well for both of us, in a symbiotic sort of way.
Straight out of the box, it was clear that folding this fabric across the fibers was a bad idea: every kink in the fibers resulted in a little light bleed. This was obviously the grand idea--the fibers in our case were meant to let the fabric glow and not, say, carry Internet signal--but folds would be a permanent bar of light across the scarf. Even though I was excessively careful while sewing and made sure the fabric stayed rolled rather than folded, there were one or two of these bent bars by the time I was finished.
Between its delicacy and its call for invisible thread, this project was finicky, but just look at the results!
Between its delicacy and its call for invisible thread, this project was finicky, but just look at the results!
I did a small roll hem along the long sides, added a little extra silk at either short end to try and diffuse the LED at the end of each fiber bundle, and made little housings with snap closures for the battery packs at either end. The snaps are just to remove the packs for battery replacement: the fabric selvedges + my extra silk was thin and sturdy enough so that you could flip the switch and turn the LEDs on through the fabric.
I rolled it up and slid it inside a little cylindrical carrying case I whipped up, included the out-of-the-box literature with a nice card, and sent it along to the wedding. From what I heard, it made a big splash, and it's left me wondering to what items in my future I can add a little glow...
I rolled it up and slid it inside a little cylindrical carrying case I whipped up, included the out-of-the-box literature with a nice card, and sent it along to the wedding. From what I heard, it made a big splash, and it's left me wondering to what items in my future I can add a little glow...