For some of us the words ‘smart fabrics, ‘smart textiles’ and ‘e-textiles’ are still shiny and new, although pioneers have been innovating within the textile industry for a while now. The merger of fashion with technology is held up by the makers and designers who are coming up with different materials that offer convenience to the wearer. Knowing this should we be surprised that fashion tech like conductive threads was used as early as the Elizabethan era?
Knowledge is power, so make sure you take a moment to read something that our friends atLOOMIA created. It is a smart textile timeline from 1600- 2016. It shows how technology has played a crucial role in textiles. Read and learn.
2007 — Leah Buechley develops the Lilypad, a microcontroller made specifically for textiles. (Adafruit later makes its version called the Flora)
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
