serging the cut ends of the princess seam top, to prevent fraying,

ironing open the seam allowances of the princess seam top

sewing the collar and the the sleeves facing

Putting everything together, the top and the skirt on the mannequin. The final look of the dress for the art science museum exhibition

sewing the main electronics on a a velcro compartment that is connected to the inner lining

Testing of the LED strips. I choose to use 5V led strips as the lilypad arduino can only output 5v and the colour red as based on my concept.

The strip of the led that i cut was based on the size of the section of organza bubbles.

I tested one strip and placed them under the organza bubbles, it was not bright enough so i wanted to use two strips.

As led strips cannot bend well, i choose to cut two short strips and link them by soldering them together with short wires. I tested it again and it worked well so i decided to place two short strips of red led under each organza bubbles cutout.

Testing the heat pad with a higher amp battery and crocodile wires

soldering the touch resistor to the lily pad arduino

Soldering is much a much more secure connection than just twisting it around the holes of the lilypad arduino

Connecting the circuit based on this diagram, how the transistor connects to the lilypad arduino to the heat pad to the external battery

i hand sewed the organza bubbles onto the dress using transparent fishing line thread. I choose to hand sew on the applique stitches as its less obvious where the shiny blue embroidery thread hides most of the nylon fishing thread

Title: Coral dress

My dress inspiration is from the coral reefs and the sea. Iconic representation was used to represent the themes of the dress. The organic shapes of the waves and the sea form the main shapes of the cutouts of the dress and the bubbles of the dress represent the coral reefs in the oceans. The colours of the dress also allude to the theme of the coral and the sea.
My dress concept is about how the coral reefs are dying due to humans. Over 50% of the world’s coral reefs may be destroyed by 2030 due to human related activities. Through the use of technology, I hope to portray that humans are causing damage to the coral reefs. Upon the human  touch through the sensor, the corals on the dress would glow red, representing the damage that have been done to the corals by humans.