Hi again! This post is going to be all about… my LED SKIRT — the brightest, sparkliest, most high-tech piece of clothing I’ve ever made. I didn’t just sew fabric; I programmed lights, built circuits, wired sensors, and turned a normal skirt into a wearable light show.

There are 11 main parts to this project, but don’t worry — I’ll walk you through the magic step by step!

1. Choosing Fabrics: Build Your Layers Like a Scientist & a Designer

My LED skirt has three layers, each with a job:

Outer Layer: Blue, semi-transparent polyester — this softens the lights and makes the glow dreamy. Darker colors hide the LEDs when they’re off.
Mid Layer: White cotton — this layer holds the LED strips and all the Velcro. It also guides the wires like little LED highways.
Inner Layer: White lining fabric — this keeps the skirt comfy and reduces resistance when it moves.

Think of it like a glowing sandwich: lights in the middle, beauty on the outside.

2. Sewing the Skirt

I used a six-panel skirt design, which is perfect because the smaller pieces are easier to handle when sewing in electronics.

I added:

a waistband that fits snugly
a side zipper
and a secret back pocket for the controller and battery

It’s like a spy gadget disguised as clothing!

Measuring LED’s!!

In this photo, I’m checking the length of each LED strip so they match the layout of the skirt. Precise measurements are super important — even a small mismatch can throw off the wiring.

3. Velcro, Cable Slots & Pockets

This part is where the engineering begins.

I cut 24 pieces of Velcro, each 2 × 1 cm.
The soft, fuzzy side went onto the cotton mid-layer — that way the LEDs snap on without scratching anything.

Each LED strip gets 4 pieces of Velcro:

one at the top
one at the bottom
and two in the middle

We used about 20 LEDs per strip, so each strip was around 33 cm long.

You can do this on a skirt you already have or build it from scratch like I did.

4. Attaching the LEDs

Once all the Velcro was ready, I placed the LED strips exactly where I wanted them.

Then I:
✅ Fastened them with Velcro
✅ Guided the cables through the waistband
✅ Routed the wires along the hem and toward the closure

Suddenly, my skirt looked like a sci-fi control panel — in the best way.

LED soldering

This is when I was soldering all the LED’s together. It was A LOT of work. I actually had to re-do it because I had but the LED’s on upside down!!

5. The Controller & Power Setup

This part felt like wiring a tiny robot.

The LED signal wire connects to pin A3 on the QT Py microcontroller.
I reused the connectors that came with the LED strips so they could easily unplug when the skirt needs washing.
Everything — the controller, sensor, and a 5,000 mAh USB battery — fits into the pocket at the back.

When you plug the QT Py into the power bank…
BOOM — the whole skirt wakes up and glows.

6 & 7. Programming the Skirt: Where Coding Meets Art

For the software, you can use CircuitPython or the Arduino IDE.
I used Arduino because it let me add a special library that splits one LED strip into “virtual strips.”

That means:

The LEDs act like multiple separate strips
I can run cool animations
I can trigger effects using motion from the sensor

We used a “bouncing ball” animation to show how the 6-axis motion sensor works — when you run, jump, or spin, the LEDs react!

The code:

Reads motion data
Calculates how strong the movement is
Triggers the “bouncing ball” animation when the motion passes a threshold
Cycles through colors or keeps one color depending on what you choose

It’s like the skirt has feelings — it responds to every move you make.

Make it stand out

This is the LED’s FINALLY lighting up after working on them for weeks! I was amazing seeing that all my work paid off!

8. Uploading the Code

To load the program onto the QT Py, I followed Adafruit’s guide for flashing the board. It explains everything — including how to switch to CircuitPython if you ever want to upgrade or customize your effects.

Here’s the PDF tutorial I followed:
👉 https://makezine.com/projects/motion-animated-neopixel-led-skirt/

Final Thoughts

Creating this LED skirt made me feel like a fashion designer, engineer, coder, and inventor all at once.
I learned how fabric, electronics, and coding can team up to create something totally new — something that moves, lights up, reacts, and feels alive.

If you ever want to mix art with science, I definitely recommend trying wearable electronics. It’s the perfect blend of creativity, coding, and hands-on making.

Until next time — keep glowing and keep creating!

Lighting Up Fashion: My Adventure Making an LED Skirt!