Seamless Seams: Crafting Techniques for Embedding Fabrics with Interactive Actuation

Traditional crafting methods such as stitching, embroidering, dyeing and machine sewing can be enhanced to create novel techniques for embedding shape-changing and colour-changing actuation into soft fabrics. In this paper, we show how embedding Shape-Memory Alloy (SMA) wire, copper wire and thermochromic thread into needles and bobbins, we were able to successfully machine sew interactive morphological capabilities into textiles. We describe the results of extensive design experiments, which detail how differing actuations can be achieved through a matrix of parameters that directly influence a fabric's deformational behaviours. To demonstrate the usefulness of our 10 techniques, we then introduce and discuss an interactive artefact we produced, using a subset of these techniques. We contribute such new techniques for creating soft-interfaces, imbued with actuation through tactile and self-morphing capabilities without motors or LEDs. We draw insights from this on the potential of the proposed techniques for crafting interactive artefacts.