Adding Lights to Fur Coat?

[Rusty Needles]

Hey Guys.

I have a fur coat that I like from last year but it doesn't have lights.

Ideally they would be sewn in between the layers.. but I don't see that happening now.

What the best options for adding the lights?

I could use fairy lights but seems like the wire would make it kinda stiff.

Would the led's need to be attached to the outside somehow? (safety pins or something)

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Rusty Needles

[BBadger]

Fairy lights actually work pretty well and their wires aren't too stiff. You could also use EL wire or something like that.

The main problem with wiring is having the wires break from getting pulled or stretched, so make sure there isn't much tension and make sure stuff doesn't snag.

You can use (good) safety pins or something like a hand awl to attach your wires to your coat. You can even use zip-ties in a pinch. Just make sure there's enough slack that stretching or bending over doesn't break the wires, and also that they don't snag on anything.

[Raoul]

To hold the wire in place, you can also go to a craft store and pick up some inexpensive beads that have a center hole just big enough for your wire. Sew those onto the coat at whatever locations you want, either just to keep the wire from falling off or to create some interesting pattern. You can also adjust the slack in the wire.

The big box craft stores usually have enough of a variety that you can get beads that either blend in with the coat so you can't see them at all or are very visible and complementary to the coat. Then, simply run the wire through the beads in whatever configuration you want. If a string of El wire gets damaged, you can remove it and string another one through.

[Chowski]

All of my coats get a string of lights every year. Fairy lights with a flexible wire work better than the newer, copper-wire style lights. El-wire also works well.

I start by finding a place for the battery pack, usually in a secure pocket, then safety pin the part of the chain which has no lights to the lining (or cut a small hole in the coat and push the light chain through) so that the part of the chain that has lights starts on the outside of the coat, with the non-lit section hidden.

I then take the very end of the chain and pin it to the coat at the same spot on the opposite side. I then pull the chain out, and mark the center, and pin that point to the back center. From there, it is easy to pin the chain in any design you like, usually up the front, over the shoulders, down and up the back, over the other shoulder and down the other side of the front.

Once you are pleased with the design, get a needle and thread and do a simple stitch over the entire light chain, knotting it occasionally for strength. This does not have to be pretty or clean or tight. This is just to keep the chain on the coat. You can even make a stitch every inch or inch and a half. Just enough to keep it on for the year - you'll want to remove it if you wash your coats after the burn.

Make sure the battery compartment has enough line on it so you can pull it out and change the batteries when they die, but this is a really simple fix, and should take you no more than two hours per coat - just time to sit down and kinda watch a movie you've already seen while you stitch, or listen to a good podcast. If your fur is extra long, you can use a curved "fish hook" needle, but I use a normal large-ish straight needle for most of my projects.

Good luck - don't be intimidated. Literally, children can sew. So can you.

And the best thing about it is, you never have to sit in your tent while your friends are ready to leave, scrounging around for a damn el-wire to wrap around yourself and fidget with all night long.

[Admiral Fukkit]

Night time clothes lighting is required to be red on the wearer's left and green on the right, with an omnidirectional white light at the highest point while loitering in place.

[Savannah]

Night time clothes lighting is required to be red on the wearer's left and green on the right, with an omnidirectional white light at the highest point while loitering in place.

[Rusty Needles]

Sweet.... thanks for the tips guys.

And course it will be setup for nautical travel

[numb3rs]

an idea me an some freinds were talkign about were to use firber optics (as the tips glow) and have the whole outside of the coat be covered in that with only 5-6 diffrent lights that can slowly change colour. if anyone has done this or wants to do it pm me about how it turns out.

[PanMan]

Night time clothes lighting is required to be red on the wearer's left and green on the right, with an omnidirectional white light at the highest point while loitering in place.

Ha! I just implemented this in my programmable coat .

[hungukran]

To hold the wire in place, you can also go to a craft store and pick up some inexpensive beads that have a center hole just big enough for your wire. Sew those onto the coat at whatever locations you want, either just to keep the wire from falling off or to create some interesting pattern. You can also adjust the slack in the wire.

The big box craft stores usually have enough of a variety that you can get beads that either blend in with the coat so you can't see them at all or are very visible and complementary to the coat. Then, simply run the wire through the beads in whatever configuration you want. If a string of El wire gets damaged, you can remove it and string another one through.

Fabulous idea! Just fabulous!!!

[kl3pt0]

an idea me an some freinds were talkign about were to use firber optics (as the tips glow) and have the whole outside of the coat be covered in that with only 5-6 diffrent lights that can slowly change colour. if anyone has done this or wants to do it pm me about how it turns out.

I have made a dress that had "Sparkle Fiber Optics" gong from the top down all controlled with an Arduino and lit with some RGB LEDs it looked amazing but the fiber optics mad the dress very ridged and not flexible enough to sit on a bike. If I find some more flexible ones I will try it again.

[Meat Hunter]

For my playa night wearing coat, I had (still have) a faux fur coat with the LED wiring sewed into the lining with the LED's sticking out though holes to the outside with a pouch inside to hole the 3 AA battery pack.

For 5 years, it has worked great on the playa at night. However, due to geriatric & old age related things, my days of making the cross country drive and life on the playa are over for me.

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***** If anyone is interested in seeing a series of photos outlining how I sewed in the wiring of the fur coat, please PM me with your e-mail address and I will send them off to ya'.

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Instead of BM this year; in June I made the one day drive to a Regional burn in east Tennessee (To The Moon) and it was GREAT. Exactly what I expected -- BM in miniature and very intimate.

Living in the deepest of the deep south, there is no doubt in my mind that wearing a fur coat at night would roast me quicker than a wiener tossed into the fireplace.

A short sleeve shirt is the burner shirt of choice for night wear down south. I dug out one of my less worn playa short sleeve shirts and applied the same wiring to it. Perfect for those sweltering & high humidity southern nights.

[+KLOVE+]

I added battery operated string lights down the back, and front, of a fur coat using safety pins. I used one string for the front and a separate one for the back. I made sure to give everything enough slack to be able to move around and didn't do the sleeves. It worked really well. You can also sew or hot glue gun a make shift pocket to hold the battery part.

[Sunny D]

Like the others have mentioned, fishing line of the lightest weight (maybe 5 or 10 lbs?) sown works perfectly and holds up well through many years of wear.