We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about conductive fabric and making wearables with Makey Makey! So this whole Fun Fact Friday post is dedicated to sewing circuits! Our head of digital content and community loves sewing circuits and here are all the materials and projects she recommends!

Fabric and Materials

Any fabric listed as conductive fabric should be fine to use with Makey Makey. Adafruit carries a lot of variety and would be a good resource. SparkFun also carries conductive fabric. 

Here are some items on Amazon that are similar to what is in our booster pack:

• Shielding
• EMF Fabric
• More EMF Fabric

I love to use conductive fabric tape because I can mimic a circuit board layout with it on most materials (fabric or not!) Here is the tape I personally like to buy: 

• Conductive Tape : Pro tip: Make sure what you buy has conductive adhesive

Some Fun Projects Ideas

• Here are some fun favorite projects:  
• "Is it Conductive?" Wearable Experiment
• On this maze, I used conductive fabric tape to connect all the conductive traces. 

• This wild lab coat inspired by Fraser's lab coat inspired by Sophy Wong's Flappy Hoodie!

Colleen's lab coat:

Introducing my interchangeable /interactive human body systems lab coat powered by @makeymakey , @Raspberry_Pi, and @scratch ! Check it out in person at the BETT conference in London. #wearables #sewingcircuits #softcircuits pic.twitter.com/QRyhhC5V45

— Colleen Graves (@gravescolleen) January 10, 2020

Fraser's lab coat that flies a drone! :

I made a coat that controls my drone. Inspired by @sophywong's flappy bird hoodie, I bring you... flappy drone. Pockets are conductive fabric, trigger the @makeymakey to control a #Tello drone with a @scratch extension. Testing video coming. 🤪 pic.twitter.com/UStGfRhv7D

— Fraser McKay (@mrmckaycomp) April 13, 2019

Sophy Wong's Flappy Hoodie:

uhh... today I started making a hoodie that lets you play Flappy Bird by actually flapping like a bird. All I can say is: sound on 😅 pic.twitter.com/2ghogsSbH5

— sophy wong (@sophywong) February 25, 2019

More awesome resources about wearables!

• Kobakant: How to Get What You Want - I get a lot of inspiration from this site!
• Conductive Jelly Donuts: Makey Makey Sewing Circuits Instructable 
• Sewing a Simple Circuit: Primer for Schools Instructable
• Sewable Switch! - I made this for students after looking at this Tinkering Studio Guide!

Had to make a quick #DIY switch as ex for #sewingcircuits. Felt switch idea sparked from @TinkeringStudio ! #makered #inventionliteracy pic.twitter.com/LgxrisFlyt

— Colleen Graves (@gravescolleen) April 25, 2017