Lilypad Conductive Thread Bobbin

This is about 330 meters of conductive thread spun from stainless steel fiber and wound on a spool. You can use it as a creative way to connect various electronics onto clothing projects. This large spool is a great way to get into wearable electronics without a large upfront cost and a large enough quantity to not be afraid of making a few mistakes.  What sets this thread apart from the other conductive thread that we carry is the fact that it's actually spun from stainless steel fibers (as opposed to plated silver) and doesn't have a Nylon core. This means that while it may not be easy to solder to, because it's stainless, it also won't burn up when you touch it with a soldering iron. Also, it's somewhat 'hairy' and can be slightly more difficult to work with in close, fine conditions than the other thread. Our resident E-Textiles expert suggests waxing the thread for hand sewing, as this should take care of any 'hairy thread' issues. Since waxing is impractical in machine sewing applications, avoid sewing close connections by machine as the 'hairs' could potentially short across small distances.

This is Kitronik's very own Electro-Fashion® branded Conductive Thread and we think it is among the best conductive thread available. It is perfect for hand sewing and can also be used on the bottom bobbin of a sewing machine (this will require the thread to be wound on to the smaller bottom bobbin first). Conductive thread can be used like conventional sewing yarn, however it electrically conducts allowing electronics to be integrated into textiles. This makes it ideal for use in a range of e-textile applications. The thread is nano plated with silver to make it conductive. The conductive thread has a generally low resistance but it does vary. We have measured between 40 and 160 ohms per meter, depending on the tension the thread is under. Once sewn the resistance is typically in the middle of this range. Over time the silver plating will degrade particularly if washed and we have measured in excess of 280 ohms on some of our older examples. Resistance does not vary significantly from one length of thread to the next, so you should be able to use this thread without concern for "dead" sections. The conductive thread has a breaking strain of around 9.3 pounds (4.2 kilos). It comprises roughly 96 individual filaments, each coated with a micron-thick layer of natural silver. This plating of the yarn is done in Europe to ensure as high a quality finish as possible. In construction, 16 of these filaments are wound together to form an initial twist; two of these twists are then twisted together, and finally three of these twists are combined to form the finished thread. The conductive thread is approximately 18 denier. It is heavier than a regular sewing thread, but not as heavy as an upholstery thread. It can be sewn on most domestic sewing machines using either a regular needle or the next size up. This thread does not fray. Features: No (or very low) fray. Conductivity = approximately 40Ω per metre (12.2Ω per foot). Count = 875 dTex. Strength 3000 cN. Elongation at break = 37%. Twist = 240Z-380S. Contents: 1 x Reel Electro-Fashion®, Conductive Thread, 250m.

A small, portable inverter for EL wire. Powers off of 2 AA batteries (not included!), it can drive 1 to 8 feet (about 2.5m) of our high-brightness EL wire for 10 hours. There is a button for selecting steady/blink/off modes. There's a removable clip on the back. Comes with a 2.5mm pitch female JST connector To connect a piece EL wire to this, you'll want a male connector wire The EL inverter requires a 'load' to stabilize itself. Do not run the inverter without at least 1 ft of EL wire attached! Otherwise the inverter can spike and damage itself Like all inverters we've used, the 2000 Hz oscillation is slightly audible. To reduce the squeaking, we suggest opening up the case padding it with thick foam tape/weatherstripping. Squirting some hot glue around the capacitors may also help. We managed to get it silent this way. We used this to make our awesome TRON bag Soldering to EL wire is a little tricky but luckily we wrote a detailed step-by-step tutorial!

This is Kitronik's very own Electro-Fashion® branded Conductive Thread and we think it is among the best conductive thread available. It is perfect for hand sewing and can also be used on the bottom bobbin of a sewing machine (this will require the thread to be wound on to the smaller bottom bobbin first). Conductive thread can be used like conventional sewing yarn, however it electrically conducts allowing electronics to be integrated into textiles. This makes it ideal for use in a range of e-textile applications. The thread is nano plated with silver to make it conductive. The conductive thread has a generally low resistance but it does vary. We have measured between 40 and 160 ohms per meter, depending on the tension the thread is under. Once sewn the resistance is typically in the middle of this range. Over time the silver plating will degrade particularly if washed and we have measured in excess of 280 ohms on some of our older examples. Resistance does not vary significantly from one length of thread to the next, so you should be able to use this thread without concern for "dead" sections. The conductive thread has a breaking strain of around 9.3 pounds (4.2 kilos). It comprises roughly 96 individual filaments, each coated with a micron-thick layer of natural silver. This plating of the yarn is done in Europe to ensure as high a quality finish as possible. In construction, 16 of these filaments are wound together to form an initial twist; two of these twists are then twisted together, and finally three of these twists are combined to form the finished thread. The conductive thread is approximately 18 denier. It is heavier than a regular sewing thread, but not as heavy as an upholstery thread. It can be sewn on most domestic sewing machines using either a regular needle or the next size up. This thread does not fray. Features: No (or very low) fray. Conductivity = approximately 40Ω per metre (12.2Ω per foot). Count = 875 dTex. Strength 3000 cN. Elongation at break = 37%. Twist = 240Z-380S. Contents: 1 x Reel Electro-Fashion®, Conductive Thread, 50 yards / 45m.

Our favourite food when chopping code or electronics is a hot bowl of noodles - and in New York they are often called "noods"! What we have here are flexible LED noodles in different lengths and colours. All of them are not good for eating, but they are good for cool lighting effects. These are often seen in "Edison-like" LED lights, shaped into hearts or stars or simply wrapped around to create a fun or warm lighting effect. They consist of dozens of micro-LED diodes connected together on an ultra-flexible metal back and then coated with coloured silicone for protection. Because the LEDs are connected in parallel, you only need 3 V to make them light up - we recommend current limiting with a resistor to let a maximum of 50 mA through. One piece per pack. Add some miniature noodle-y neon bling to your miniature sets, dioramas, dollhouses, mini verses what have you! These look and feel like we've always wanted an EL cord to look and feel, and since it's just a "big long LED", you can easily dim it via PWM. Just switch on with 3 V by connecting both ends - the anode should be the metal end with a small hole in it. If it doesn't light up immediately, try it the other way round, no problem. This noodle is 300 mm long.