Halloween isn’t far away and you may be starting to think about costumes. EL wire (electroluminescent wire) is a really easy way to light up your costume and requires no experience with electronics. You just put the batteries in and turn it on.
It comes as a piece of wire (which is what will light up) and an inverter pack (this has the battery and the on/off switch). You can even get an inverter that will time it to light up to music.
TAPlab ran a workshop on adding EL wire to clothing last year. We still have lots of packs available if you want to come in and try it out. They range in price from $7-$10.
Tips:
- EL wire needs to be used in the dark or dim lighting (it doesn’t show up well in bright light or daylight – use LEDs if you want it for daytime)
- Ideally use a thick non-stretch fabric. EL wire can be a bit stiff so a light weight or stretch fabric will contort. You can use an iron on interfacing on the back of your garment to help stabilise the design.
- Don’t add it to something you will need to wash. Use it for a jacket, bag, hat, props etc.
- You can attach it however you like, we sewed ours onto clothing. If you’re doing a prop you might want to tape or glue it.
- Use electrical tape to cover over the wire on the parts of the design you don’t want to show up – it will block the light.
- You can’t do sharp turns or corners with EL wire or it will snap. If you need a sharp corner you can twist it back around on itself and black out the parts you don’t want to show.