7/31/19 – Sewing the Glove

Today, I used the assignment to mold or sew something as an opportunity to sew a new base for my glove and make it actually fit for my hand.

Last night, as a test, I tried hand sewing the protoboard onto a piece of rigid fabric to see if it was sturdy. Turns out, with enough stitches, a sewn-on protoboard is actually pretty strong! sewn on test

First, I started by soldering my protoboard for all my glove electronics. Last night, I used Fritzing to make a sketch of all the electronics I want to use so I could better vizualize how I was going to lay everything out. Fritzing diagram The components I needed were an RF module, Arduino Nano, two magnetic sensors, and a lot of wires. I soldered the Nano and the RF module on the protoboard, and then I soldered 5V and GND lines so I could route multiple things to the same place. It took a really long time, and I almost messed up and burned myself many times, but it turned out well! pb front pb back

Next, I worked on making a pattern for the glove part. I first tried tracing my hand with chalk on the rigid fabric to make a piece, but when I cut out two of this test and sewed them together, it was a bit too small for my hand. I also left a gap for my thumb, but that wasn’t big enough either. testtttt

For my next pattern test, I made the pattern longer so it could better fit my hand. I also tried cutting a hole into the fabric so my thumb could fit well. After sewing the original seams I wanted, I made a few alterations so it would fit best, as you can see here: Blechgdhd

I cut to leave around half an inch of seam allowance around the alterations, and then I put the altered pattern onto the fabric I was cutting as a guide. I wanted to cut the glove in 3 main pattern pieces: one whole piece for the back of my hand, and then two overlapping pieces for the palm. The two overlapping pieces will connect via Velcro or hook and eye closures or snaps eventually. I also cut two of each pattern piece so I could layer them on top of each other to hide all the raw edges.

My process for sewing:

  1. Cut all the pattern pieces, 2x of each separate piece. pieces
  2. Sew the side seams of a “glove part”, make sure they’re in opposite directions so they can layer on top of each other to hide the seams. side seams
  3. Use the iron to press the seams flat so they layer better. pressed
  4. Face the right sides of each glove shell together and sew along the top edge to make a tube. Also, sew along one of the vertical sides. Finish the edges with a zigzag stitch. tube
  5. Turn inside out, press the seams flat. Close up the other side that you didn’t sew up. Stitch along the edges so the seams lay flat for real. finished
  6. Finish off the thumb hole by folding over the raw edges and sewing with a zigzag stitch. The glove actually turned out really cleanly, and fit my hand nicely! I still need to add in closures. top bottom

I then half-sewed the protoboard onto my glove through the unused holes, and it stayed on well! .5 sewn proto gang

Next, I worked on wiring up the Hall Sensors to my protoboard. I already had wires sticking out that are meant to go to each sensor, but I hadn’t yet soldered the sensors onto protoboards. I used a saw to cut two small, sensor-sized protoboards from a thin protoboard, and then soldered on the sensor. I used chalk to mark the approximate place for my sensors on the glove, and then bent the wires in the approximate path they would take along the glove. Path

I wanted the wires to be somewhat hidden and kept in place on the surface of my glove, so I used scrap fabric to sew a channel for the wires for one of my sensors. I first cut the approximate shape, finished the edges with a zigzag stitch, then folded the edges underneath and sewed it onto my glove. I also bent and shaped the wires into the channels as I was sewing the channel in place. It turned out well, and now the glove has a lot more structual integrity. sewn After the wires were in place, I trimmed them down and soldered them onto my first Hall Sensor protoboard. I also sewed the protoboard into place. I’m going to finish the other wire channel and sensor another day because I spent 5 straight hours in the lab today. Final channel

Here was how my glove turned out for real– it looks so clean and nice! I’m really happy with my results.

inside view uwu