Neat projects at Autodesk Pier 9

Some fantastic art and projects at Pier 9 through their Artist in Residence program. Most of these have Instructables, so head over there for more info.

Custom printer with conductive fabric paint

3D resin printed marbles with galaxies inside

Koi pond

Elsa for Halloween

I'm a sucker for adorable children in costume. Frozen is the current Disney juggernaut, and there will be an absolute plague of Elsas at your door this year. I went with the official pattern from Simplicity.

The pattern went together easily, I did forget to sew on the extra cape in the right sequence so I had to add it later and then cover with some trim. The organza top proved to be the worst bit, mostly because it frayed like crazy. Would recommend finishing those seams. I went back over with a zigzag but they will give out first. Would redo in maybe a stretch net.

I know this is mixing characters but the cloak is really cute and took no time to put together. I cheated with ricrac instead of appliques.

3D printed Tentacles, part 2

Here's what's happening with the 3D printed tentacles!

The tentacles have a hole in the bottom that fits an led.  After trying a bunch of colors I think they look best with a green led.  Here's a parallel circuit on my breadboard with 5 green leds and a tentacle on top with the light shining through.  I'm planning to make this into a headband, hopefully in time for Aquarium Night at DragonCon.

Arduino Educato

All the electronic dresses I've made lately are run on Arduinos, which is an open source microprocessor. Today I soldered together an Arduino Educato . It's a Kit that essentially makes an Arduino Uno. It has extra long pins on one side, which you can plug directly into a breadboard to make it easier to test your circuits without a lot of extra wires.

3D printing

Long time, no blog.  But here's a quick thing I've been working on.  3D printing.  The process has been both easier and harder than I thought.  All my training and equipment is at techshop, either the one in SF or the Mid-peninsula shop.  The class at techshop got me up and printing really quickly.  I've been using PLA filament from radioshack, it prints nicely and is somewhat translucent.  The model is straight off the Makerbot Thingiverse, a free online source of digital files for 3D printing. All I did was upload the stl file into Cura, the software you use for setting up the print, and print it out on a Type A Machine.  The real challenge has been in trying to modify the 3D model.

So far I've taken into classes on both Inventor and Fusion 360.  It seems like both are more focused on larger scale designing, like you could collaborate and design production models or a car.  I can import the stl file but I haven't been able to modify it.  Tinkercad has been recommended as a program that might be easier to use.  If anyone has software recommendations I'd love to hear about them.

And here's a video of the 3D printer doing its thing.  It is printing a tentacle.  If you want to know more about this sort of thing I'll be doing a lecture at Costume College in LA on Friday the 31st.

3D printing tentacles

3D printing on Type A machine

Electronic Couture at the Maker Faire

MakeFashion had an amazing run of fashion shows at the Maker Faire this weekend.

We did a rehearsal on Friday and 2 shows per day on Saturday and Sunday.

I have the best friends ever and two of them volunteered to model the dress.  Thanks Claudine from Idle Hands blog, and Jean, who edits Science Fiction/San Francisco!

Jean in the Astrobotanicals forest

Super Sewing Table

I just got this new-to-me sewing table.

It has a front compartment that hold a sewing machine, which can be raised to table height. And a movable shelf that holds a serger. The left top drawer folds out to a half sized ironing board.

I can now sew an entire garment without leaving my chair. All I need to add is one of those hamster watering bottles.

Art Deco Fans

Art Deco hand fans at SFO

SFO has had some great exhibitions in the past year or so. This one is on the long corridor that connects Terminal 3 to the gates and I got some good pictures on my way back from Calgary.  The Exhibition is Deco Style and has at least 20 exhibits of various material goods from the 1920s and 1930s.

1920s paper hand fan

Almost all the hand fans are 1920s paper advertising fans.  The bobbed hair on the women and evening clothes are very typical 1920s and a major fashion change from the very structured garments of earlier decades.

1920s advertising fan

The fontage fan shape, a folding or brise fan that is shell shaped; the center sticks are longer than the sticks towards the guard, was very popular in the 1920s.

A fan showing the other type of hand fan popular in the 1920s.  Feather fans, including ostrich feather fans started becoming popular in the 1880s and were very popular in the 1890s.  In the 1890s large ostrich fans were often black white or natural.  In general the 1920s had much more colorful ostrich feather fans including oranges, pinks and bright blues.

The exhibit also had these amazing cocktail sets.  Perfect for making a gin cocktail to match your beaded dress and fan!

Deco cocktail sets from SFO exhibit

Make Fashion 2015 Gala First Half Montage

This is the exciting MakeFashion Gala show that I went to in Calgary on March 28th. My dress, Reflections is at 2:00-2:30 on the video.  This was a fantastic experience.  The organizers put on a great show and the other designers came up with fabulous garments.

MakeFashion Gala this Saturday

Want to see amazing wearable tech fashion?

In the Calgary area and looking for something interesting on Saturday Night?
Come to the MakeFashion Gala, tickets still available.

My fabulous new dress, Reflections, will premiere at the Gala.  Come see what I've but together!

Here's some amazing fashion from last year's gala
http://www.makefashion.ca/thanks-for-an-amazing-2014-gala/

Fan Friday - White Elephant sale

I took a trip across the bridge to do a little shopping at the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale. I don't usually buy modern Asian fans but these where nice and inexpensive. I think my favorite is the flower embroidered fixed fan. There's still quite a lot of fans, check out the Accessories section at the sale.