Embedded EL wire & more materials to sample

Here's a fun site for EL wire embedded in knit or textile and EL wire in EL tape http://www.plugandwear.com/products.htmlThey sell the inverters also.

Plug & Wear also has pressure sensitive fabric and pressure sensitive fabric tape. And they stock some different conductive fabric: like single side conductive laminate made of aluminum foil, knitted superlight conductive fabric, Velostat and other goodies http://www.plugandwear.com/products2.html
Check the bottom of the page to order a sample kit.

Bee Puppet - Bee Sim Interactive Game

The Bee puppet is part of an interactive game for children learning about hive activity of bees, including pollination, by playing the role of the bee. The bee puppet sits velcroed on top of the glove hiding the main board, x-bee and LiPower. Three LEDs are sewn into the glove exposed on a finger (represents the flower pollen strength). The battery is hidden inside the bee body cavity sewn onto plastic mesh to help form the body shape.

The RGB sensor (game ticking clock) & 3 additional LEDs (represents bee pollen gathered) were sewn first sewn directly onto the puppet for the first prototype. However, it was quickly seen that total access was needed to the boards below the puppet, therefore the second iteration had the RGB sensor and LEDs sewn onto felt buttons, then buttoned through the bee cavity onto the bee neck and abdomen (glass beads were used to insulate the conductive thread) This design was chosen to not only allow easy access for repairs, but also to allow the glove to be interchanged with other insect puppets to examine their activity habits.

During the Bee Sim game the child/bee interacts with flowers, some with conductive material with a variety of hidden resistors beneath the felt flower center and some without conductive material (representing no pollen). After the child gathers the pollen they must return to the beehive before their energy runs out (as represented on the RGB sensor) where the pollen is dropped off and recorded/accumulated by the computer hive through the use of the xbee.

Est Today-Join the Fashion Revolution

Where can a young girl go when she wants to create a wardrobe all her own? No, not the mall, where grown-ups have already created pieces for her, but to her computer, where she can tap into her inner design maven and call her own style shots. Poised to transform the way young girls interact with and purchase clothing, Est. Today is an online fashion studio that gives tweens the creative license and platform to create, showcase and buy clothing they design themselves.

"Est. Today is all about handing over fashion control to the girls," says CEO David Cote. "By giving them the collaborative tools and guidance to design their own fashion, and allowing them to share these designs with their friends, we're starting a Fashion Revolution based on empowerment."

Join the Revolution at http://www.esttoday.com/!

Build your own Loopin

Hannah told us about this great kit to build a Happy or Grumpy Loopin:

The educational textile electronics toy developed for ZippyKit includes everything you need to build your own 'Loopin'.

The finished creature's eyes light up when their smart soft ears are touched together, or to the ears of another Loopin. The kit can be configured in one of two ways, so that you can have two characters in one! Make the happy or the grumpy Loopin as many times as you wish while learning the circuitry.
Loopin provides a fun and accessible introduction to electronics, for both boys and girls, and is also a great, hands-on craft project, to be enjoyed by all the family.

Comes in a variety of colours, and you can also choose your own.
http://www.lostvalues.com/boutique/loopin-by-zippykit.html

New Fashion Design kits for kids -- Harumika Style!

I recently came across the "Harumika Runway Showstopper Set". The website says it

"makes fashion design easy and fun with the included pink dress form, stylus design tool, chic signature fabrics, fashion accessories and two Harumika charms, which unlock special features on the Harumika website!

All girls have to do is pick the fabric, wrap it around the dress form, and then secure it using the stylus in the exclusive Style Lock System on the back of the dress form - the design possibilities are endless!

With the included Harumika camera, girls can take pictures of their favorite designs and upload them to the Harumika website to join a fashion show and feature the styles in their very own online 'Look Book'."

Yasmin, sounds like someone else was interested in the Barbie Fashion Designer Kit TNG :) For more info, see the bandai.com website at http://www.harumika.com/

PRINTIES: Inkjet Printer + Fabric = Self-Designed Stuffed Animal

Weren't we just discussing this at the end of the MIT workshop: children creating designs then printing via an inkjet printer on cloth? Although PRINTIES uses predesigned shapes (because the outline is perferrated, therefore no cutting) and the animal facial feature choices are limited, the designer does have color choices and can insert a personal photo, like their brother's face on a dog. (Which is every younger sister's dream. This I know since I was a younger sister! : -)

Check it out: https://www.getprinties.com/ver4/index.asp

Communicating Between LilyPads

Leah says:
"You can physically attach 2 LilyPads to each other so that they can communicate. To do this you would attach the TX petal of one to the RX petal of another & vice versa. To do wireless communication you would need to use the LilyPad XBee (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8937)."