The GloSport project came about after a group of NTU students were researching their brief and discovered just how many deaths of pedestrians and cyclists were the result of collisions with vehicles. They did an impressive amount of research into existing products before concluding that there was definitely a gap for a product which not only used high visibility materials, but also lit up in some way. Enter...GloSport.
GloSport is a glove built from scratch using E-Textiles to provide a highly visible light for a jogger or cyclist exercising at night.
The glove is made from a stretchy black fabric and reflective fabric taken from a high visibility vest, and is finished by adding a strip of silver reflective fabric to increase visibility. You could swap these fabrics for others to personalise the design. Adding easy sew LEDs really adds an extra layer of visibility.
We got the team behind the GloSport to create a step by step guide for you to make your very own, so without further ado:
Learn how to:
- Make an e-textiles product from scratch.
- Use a soft battery holder.
Level of difficulty:
- Intermediate. Requires basic textiles skills – hand sewing, machine sewing - and a basic understanding of simple electronic circuits.
Parts List:
In order to make your own GloSport Visibility Glove you will need:
You will also need the following equipment:
Step-by-step guide to making a GloSport Visibility Glove
Step 1
Pin the pattern pieces to the correct fabric and cut out.
Step 2
Sew your battery holder (
see here for instructions to make one) to the bottom piece of netting using normal thread, making sure to leave the tabs free of thread.
Step 3
Take the top panel of netting and stitch the switch and LEDs to the net. Make sure the LED’s are in parallel. If you are unsure of how to do this, follow the example shown in the image.
Leave a length of thread on the side of the switch you wish the battery to connect too, and a length on the negative side of the last LED.
We've provided a simplified circuit diagram above to help explain how the circuit is laid out.
You can test your circuit by holding the threads against the correct side of the cell battery to ensure it is working well.
Step 4
Pin the top pieces of Lycra and high visibility fabric together and sew using the sewing machine. Do the same for the back pieces. Using a small amount of bondaweb, attach the top piece of fabric to the top piece of netting, using the iron and some greaseproof paper or a tea towel, and repeat for the back panel.
Be careful to not attach the circuit or thread to the bondaweb. Connect the loose threads from your circuit to the battery holder, making sure you are connecting the positive side of the battery to the switch, and the negative side to the last LED.
Pin your glove pieces together and sew using the sewing machine. When finished, turn the right way round. It should leave some raw edges visible.
Step 5
Using strips of the silver reflective fabric, pin around the raw edges and sew using the sewing machine to create a bias binding.
Step 6
To create the right hand glove simply mirror the pattern!
This Kitronik University Course was produced by students of the NTU Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course, a course for graduates with a degree in a subject other than D&T, who wish to train as secondary Design and Technology teachers.
You can see our write up of their final presentations
here.
We'd like to thank all of the students for their hard work over the seven week course, and wish them all the best in their future careers.
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