This week was our last Wednesday in the Fab Lab. I really enjoyed the past three weeks in the Fab Lab because it was hands-on learning and experimenting. We learned by “doing”, for example loading a sewing machine with thread colors or sewing LED lights onto fabric. As a class, we were able to develop new skills and learn unique software’s. This introduction to the Fab Lab showed me how much room there is for creativity and imagination in school. My team will definitely utilize the Fab Lab as a resource during our final project.
This week we completed the final stage in our project, which was to sew the LED lights onto our embroidered cloth. We were given a battery pack, a battery, and LED lights. We drew out how we were going to place the lights and battery on the cloth. We were reminded to connect positives together and negatives together to create a functioning circuit. Duncan demonstrated an example of him sewing his cloth. He emphasized that we had to be particular with how we sewed and patient with the process.
At first, I did not understand how we would create an electric circuit with thread. Duncan told me that we were using conductive steel thread, which carried a charge. I thought this was so cool! I did not know this existed. I was excited to start sewing.
I placed my LED lights and battery pack in a circle to ensure no positive and negative circuits crossed paths. Stitching together the pieces was a challenge. It was easy to loose the needle or knot the wrong thread together. Also, I was constantly poking myself!
After carefully sewing on my two LED lights and battery pack I was ready to turn it on. Nervously turning on the control switch I saw one of my green lights flicker on immediately! Woo!! I did it! The light was brighter than I expected and shined through the cloth clearly. Unfortunately, my second light did not work. It was a dud!
Throughout class it was fun watching everyone turn on his or her lights. Everyone’s looked great! I enjoyed seeing what other people in my class designed. Vishal and I spoke about how sewing is a great mechanic to practice. We are always on our phones texting, but this experience we were using our hands in a different way. I thought this was an interesting perspective. This day in the Fab Lab gave our body and mind a break from screens and instead a new challenge using other parts of our brain and body. We were successful in a different way of learning!
Bridget,
I really like what you had to say about getting away from the screens and using our hands to create. Today, it is easy to think of the world in a graphical sense of creation. We almost confine ourselves to the idea that new ideas and innovations must come off of our phones. Sewing and making, in general, give us an outlet to be creative in new ways. It was fun working with you from start to finish and seeing our designs come to life!
Hey Bridget,
Your box looks great! I’m impressed that you were able to get the first light to work on your first try–the circuitry can definitely be complicated, especially if you’re working with multiple LEDs. I also agree with the point you raised about how we use our hands for so many other things and don’t even realize it. Sewing utilizes a range of motor skills I haven’t had to exercise in the past, so it was a real challenge, but definitely a cool skill to practice.
Bridget,
I really appreciated the conversation you had with Vishal – we do use our hands literally all the time to text and use our laptops. However, today’s class session really pushed us to stretch our abilities beyond what we are typically used to. I definitely pricked my fingers a few times but I felt like it was really good practice doing a skill I had never done extensively before – sewing. Especially incorporating the circuitry part – it really was the most hands-on part of our class so far, in my opinion.
Ajie