4c. Trim the pins off the bottom of
the socket and pull off any tape or
other material blocking the holes. If
necessary, drill out the holes so that
a needle can pass through them.
Position the socket where you want it
on your garment and stitch it in place
with silver-coated thread, sewing
traces from each microcontroller
socket to the pattern traces you sewed.
You want to make sure that the silver-coated thread makes contact with
each socket hole, but also be careful
that no two threads cross. This is
a delicate job that requires some
patience, but if you’re used to doing
soldering or any other meticulous
work, it should be no problem.
4d. Make sure that you tie your knots
where there is ample room for them
(away from the socket) and where
they’re less likely to cause shorts with
neighboring traces. Coat each knot
with fabric glue. This will keep knots
from fraying and coming untied.
Q: What is a short?
A: A short or “short circuit”
occurs when the positive terminal of
a power supply is connected directly
to the negative terminal of a power
supply. On your shirt, if 2 neighboring traces are touching while one of
them is high (positive) and the other
is low (negative), a short circuit is
created. This kind of short circuit will
prevent your LEDs from lighting up
and is likely to cause your microcontroller to overheat and eventually
die. Short circuits in more high-powered applications can cause fires and
explosions.
