How to attach a battery pack to clothes without a pocket?

[Riv]

I've made what's essentially a light-up scarf/necklace that I'd like to be able to wear and/or hand to an under-illuminated friend. So far so good, but I'd like a way to clip it securely to clothing (not involving safety pins). I can try to rig something up with duct tape and binder clips as well as the next burner, but I thought I'd check if anyone had a solution they thought was particularly elegant. Any success stories?

[graidawg]

a small pouch for the battery pack to be worn as a necklace?

[maladroit]

In the past, I have taken a 4xAA battery pack and hot glued a strip of velcro tie to it (the kind with hook on one side, fuzzy on the other). This can be securely strapped to a belt or any other clothing item or suitable appendage. It's a good idea to put the battery pack on the inside of the strap when attaching it, helps it to not wobble around as much, and hot glue doesn't last forever.

This depends a lot on the size of the battery pack, too. I've found those little rechargeable USB battery packs to be tiny, light, and plenty of power for personal lighting applications.

[trilobyte]

If you're able to sew, make or find a cloth pouch and sew that to the inside of the clothes.

If not, find a cloth pouch and attach it via a couple high quality safety pins. Avoid using a plastic bag, no matter how secure it seems after walking/dancing around in it all night it'll tear or otherwise fail you.

[ohCarie]

I'll be watching this thread for ideas as well, as I have been sewing a pocket or in the case of scarves, putting a sock around it and then rubber banding it to the end, then I have to add a beanie baby to the other end as a counter balance. I found some LED strings that have tiny button battery pack that seems better suited for clothing http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERNIGHT-Butt ... 3a884c9796.

[VultureChow]

I'll be watching this thread for ideas as well, as I have been sewing a pocket or in the case of scarves, putting a sock around it and then rubber banding it to the end, then I have to add a beanie baby to the other end as a counter balance. I found some LED strings that have tiny button battery pack that seems better suited for clothing http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERNIGHT-Butt ... 3a884c9796.

That type does work great. Here they are on my new coat for this year (my mom is modeling) viewtopic.php?f=279&t=68122&start=90#p1014221

For that coat, the battery packs have a think you can hook into, so I got a small clasp, like for a key ring and sewed it into the inside of the coat.

That said, it sound like the main concern here is not only attaching it, but having a way to let other people wear it. And without damaging the clothing

What about bringing a marble and doing the old tarp trick

Basically have the battery pack on a piece of paracord and then tie around the marble. It might screw up the lines of the clothing, but shouldn't damage it unless the batter pack is super heavy.

[Riv]

That's genius, I love it! I can probably use something elastic--maybe base it on a bungee cord. Thanks for the idea

[Maizie]

I love the marble/tarp trick!

I have a vest that has a battery pack attached on it, and I just made a small elastic harness for the battery pack to sit in. It's convenient because it doesn't distort the clothing, it keeps the battery pack up by my neck where I can easily get to it, and when I take the battery pack off, the harness squishes flat, so you can't tell it's there.

[demeter]

Another option is to have a belt to clip it onto. I don't know exactly what your scarf's set-up is, but if it's long enough, I've used belts in the past.

[anandaja]

I have solved this problem two ways:

1. On the playa I have poked holes in garments (yeah, not ideal, especially if it's something nice, but with big furry jackets holes don't show) and simply put a piece of wire or a pipe cleaner (furry wire) through the holes creating a means of attaching AAA or AA battery/controllers. I place the battery controller against the garment and similar to a bread bag "twisty" twist the wire until the controller is securely in place. If done well the controller is held strongly in place.

Of course, sewing a pouch into the garment before going to the playa would be preferred.

There is a lot that can be done with pipe cleaners on the playa in this regard. I have used this same method to light up hats... not perfect but way effective.

Re: pouches, you can use pouches that are made for shades/glasses or cut-off portions of an old sock (now those single socks have a new purpose) to sew into your garments.


2. What I will do this year for some of my getups is to wear a light fanny pack or a passport pouch around my neck (and under one arm diagonally) and place the controller in that pouch. Of course if you need to lose the jacket to dance, etc., you'll need to remember to remove the pouch/fanny pack too as wires don't stretch well ;o).

Preplanning my night clothing/body lighting at home before leaving to BM, where there are more resources and fewer blinking burner tribal warriors eagerly urging you to join them to get out and play is always preferred.

Hope this is helpful!

[guthriekj]

Sewing and pockets are your friend. It's quite easy to make a pocket the size of your battery pack(with facings on the top and bottom of the pocket opening), cut an incision in your clothing piece the width of your pocket opening with 2 diagonal slits at each end, and sew the pocket inside of it folding the edges of the cut you made on top of both front and bottom pocket facings with the pocket that is now inside the incision you made. (truck triangles in from each side you made the diagonal slits in and sew up the triangles on each side) It'll look clean, finished, and professional and take no more than an hour-tops. With a sewing machine you can do it in 20 minutes, without one will take longer to hand sew.

Watch 4:20 - 6:30 from this video on the instructional video website ( to get an idea of what I mean. You'll have to adjust your method a little bit because you have a finished piece already but the only change you'll have to make is shoving the pocket through the hole and hand sewing the pocket inside.

Once you finish your pocket you can sew 2 pieces of velcro to make the pocket stay closed so it doesn't fall out. Or you could sew a zipper onto the pocket facings before you sew it into your hole. Or sew a loop on the bottom side of the pocket hole and a button on the top side works as well. Watching videos about this online will help you understand this method easily if it seems confusing.