Make -

3D Printing, Fashion Tech & Maker Projects

Stay tuned for 3D printed chocolate creations from the new CocoaPress!

PVC Pipe Armature for Yeti

Shawn and I built this creature in a day using PVC pipe, a handsaw, sandpaper, and glue. The armature is lightweight, portable, and made to travel to trade shows. I hope to one day motorize it for animatronic movement.

3D Printed Self-Portrait

This low-resolution 3D scan was created in 2014 using an Xbox Kinect. It’s a great budget-friendly classroom tool—just spin in a chair to capture your facial data. Used Kinects can be found for around $20.

Fusion 360 Fidget Spinner

Designing fidget spinners in Fusion 360 is super easy. I learned from YouTube!

Fashion Technology: Sound-Reactive LED Shirt

Using an Adafruit Flora and electret mic with Neopixels, I made a shirt that lights up to sound. I soldered flexible neopixels to silicone wire and attached them to a tank top—creating my own wearable disco ball!

RF Microcontroller Text Matrix

Soldering a microcontroller to an LED matrix lets you display scrolling text on clothing. Great for events and cosplay.

LED Name Badge

This kit from Maker Shed let me solder my name in LEDs. My five-letter name fit nicely. I’m now experimenting with the Adafruit PyBadge for animations.

Space Cowgirl Chic (with EL Tape)

I added EL Tape to a cowboy hat with a Dolly Parton quote: “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” Powered by a 12V battery, it glows neon on the dance floor!

Dolly Pinball Restoration

With help from DMS Vector (Dallas Makerspace), I restored a 1979 Bally pinball machine. A little reflowing of solder and capacitor replacement goes a long way!

Laser Cutting with Inkscape

Vector designs are perfect for laser cutting, CNC, vinyl, and plasma cutters. Try Inkscape if you don’t have Adobe Illustrator.

Robot Etching

Pterodactyl on Cork and Fabric

The cork material lasered well. However, the conductive fabric burned. I’ll use adhesive tape next time to keep the material flat during the cut.

Tardigrade Inkscape Design

I love tardigrades—tiny extremophiles that survive in space! I drew one in Inkscape, then screen-printed it on a t-shirt with the Texan pun: “Git Up, Makers!”

LED Necklace

Using Adafruit Gemma and three LED rings, I soldered connections to a LiPo battery and uploaded Arduino’s infinity code. A 3D-printed casing is next!

Form 2 Resin Print

SLA resin printing with the Form 2 allows for great detail. I printed this spiral design from Thingiverse—perfect for jewelry prototyping!

Plasma Cutter Keychain

In a CNC plasma cutting class, I made a keychain and felt the sparks fly. Always wear your protective gear!

Homemade Ginger Beer

I mixed ginger, lemon, sugar, and pepper into a syrup and added it to seltzer. Fizzy and fiery!

Armadillo Mosaic

This was my first attempt at mosaics. I’m learning how chunk size and color contrast affect glasswork visibility.

Doctor Who Costume (Cassandra)

For Halloween, I dressed up as Cassandra—the stretched skin and last human from Doctor Who. “Moisturize me!”

Kombucha Biofabric (Growth Mindset Fail)

I attempted to grow kombucha leather after watching this TED Talk. Sadly, it molded instead of thickening. More heat next time!