DIY Network

Pressure Sensitive LED Placemat Learn how to make a unique placemat with LED lights. From "Craft Lab" episode DCLB-130

Guest Syuzi Pakhchyan joins host Jennifer Perkins and demonstrates how to create placemats that light up with LED lights from the weight of a dinner plate.

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Create placemats that light up with LED lights.

Pressure Sensitive LED Placemat

Project designed by Syuzi Pakhchyan.

Materials:

27-1/5" x 18.5" piece of heavy-weight fabric
1/2 yard of silk organza
11" x 17" piece of interfacing
nylon netting (tulle)
needle
thread (select a color that best matches your fabric)
3 snaps
3 colored LED's (with forward voltage less than 3V)
3V coin cell battery
coin cell battery holder
sewing machine
pliers
pins
iron
black marker
craft

1. Place fabric backside up on the table. Pin a .25" of seams, and using a sewing machine sew the seams.

2. The organza consists of two fibers, one plain silk thread and the second running perpendicular to the first is the silk thread wrapped in copper foil. The latter is the conductive thread and the thread that we want to address in this fabric. Note which direction the copper-foiled thread (the thread that is gold in color) is running when cutting material.

3. Cut a 2" x 4" piece of organza with the thread running in the direction of the 2" width. Fold the organza piece in half and sew folded piece together around the edges. Before sewing, use an iron if necessary to remove any creases from the fabric.

4. Cut one 1" x 20" piece of organza with gold thread running in the direction of the length. Fold over and sew along the edges.

5. Cut one 1" x 10" piece of organza with gold thread running in the direction of the length. Fold over and sew along the edges.

6. Using a black marker, mark the positive legs (the long legs) of LED. LED's are polarized — meaning that the current runs only in one direction. It is important to distinguish the positive leg (anode), which is typically longer from the negative leg (cathode).

7. Leaving a 1/4" on the edges of the organza and between each LED, pierce the LED legs through the fabric. The LED's should be placed in a row with the black marked legs parallel to each other.

8. Using pliers, bend the legs of the three LED's into loops. This will make the LED's easier to sew onto the organza.

   Note: The LED legs (now looped) should be perpendicular to the gold threads of fabric and must be placed in a row. This will allow us to use different sections of organza to separate the power and ground current. If the LED's legs are not set perpendicular to the gold threads of fabric AND if the positive legs are not parallel to each other, the circuit will NOT work!

9. Hand sew the legs of the LED's tightly onto the 2" x 2" organza square . Make sure the legs of the LED's are flush against the fabric. You can use the pliers if needed to press the legs of the LED's flush against the fabric to create a good contact.

10. Test the connection before moving on to the next steps. Identify the positive and negative leads of the battery pack. Place the 3V battery onto pack. Pierce the positive lead of the battery pack onto the fabric where the positive legs have been sewn and the negative lead next to the negative legs of LED's. The LED's should light up.

11. Place the Organza Square with the sewn LED's, LED side down, approximately 2" from the top right side of interfacing.

12. Use a craft knife to create small slits in the interfacing to push the tops of LED's through the other side of the interfacing.

13. Use a craft knife to create small slits in interfacing to push the tops of LED's through the other side of the interfacing.

14. Using a sewing machine, sew the organza square flush onto the interfacing.

15. Sew the other two pieces of organza onto the interfacing.

16. Don't sew about 2" of the top layer of organza. Leave about a fingers width of space between the top and bottom layer of organza and continue to sew the remaining portion onto interfacing. Slip in a 2" x 4" piece of nylon netting in between the two layers. The two layers should remain apart until pressure is placed on them.

17. Do not sew about 2" of the top layer of organza. Leave about a fingers width of space between the top and bottom layer of organza and continue to sew the remaining portion onto interfacing. Slip in a 2" x 4" piece of nylon netting in-between the two layers. The two layers should remain apart until pressure is placed on them.

18. Make sure to sew the end of the 10" organza strip directly onto the square piece ONLY where the negative legs of the LED's are located.

GUESTS :
Syuzi Pakhchyan
Media Designer
Website: www.sparklab.la/