During this project, we were working on a sewable circuit. The aim for this was to able to sew the pieces to each other and be able to use the CPX. Also, we were working on how to code using the CPX.

Comparing the planning sheet and the final project, I had made some changes. The first change I have made was the color of the LED. I had written that there would be 2 red LEDs for the penguin’s eye in the plan. In the final, I had made one of the eyes “green”. It was green because I haven’t checked the color before sewing it down and when I was checking after I had sewn it, I found out that one was green and the other one was red. It was a funny mistake, but somehow I think this is better than two red-eyed penguin. The second change I had made was the sclera (part of the penguin eye). In the planning sheet, I had drawn that there would be sclera, and on top of it, there would be LEDs. But because having lots of layers is hard to sew, I had made a decision to not use the sclera and instead just sew the LED. This had made a better look for the penguin and it was easier to sew. The third change was the locations of the battery and the CPX. Before making the project, I wasn’t sure about where to put the CPX and the battery, but during the sewing process, I realized that the locations of CPX and battery matter of the conductive fabric and the LEDs. Since I was thinking and placing these pieces many times, I figured out the best location. The last change I made during this project was sewing my initial. During the plan, I had drawn my initial small and on the left side but on my final, I had made the initials big and sewn them on the right side corner. After changing these, I had found out that it had made my project look even better and I am happy that I had made these choices.

During this project, I had learned that we need patience while we are making something. The reason why I am saying I had learned this is because while I was sewing the pieces, it took a lot of time. Once, the LED didn’t work and the action I had taken was to get all of the sewn works off and re-sewn the pieces together. The one thing I don’t have was patience but because working on this class and on this project, I had learned that patience is a really important thing to have in our life. Without patience, it is really hard for us to continue and live out the world. Another thing I had learned is that listening and participating are really important. The reason I am saying this is because if I did not listen to what the teacher had taught and if I didn’t ask what I didn’t know, then it is really hard to solve the problems that I don’t know. Asking can really help out to get the solution to a problem. I think having these skills really helps us out our selves and our works. If I didn’t have these skills, then it would be hard for me to complete this work.

The challenge I had noticed during this project was the sewing part. The reason is that when I was sewing the CPX, I found it hard because I did not want the thread to be showing on the front side so I had tilted the felt a bit and then sewed it. After that, I found that the conductive thread is not tight enough and it was a bit loose.

In the future, if I had the same choice of this project I would make my penguin bigger than right now. The reason is that if I make it bigger, it would be better for me to sew the works, and also the front of the project would look even nicer than right now. As you can see in the image below, the penguin does look small, and looks like there are lots of spaces that are unused near the penguin and my initial. If I had made the penguin bigger, then it would look much more full than before and the person who is looking at it can have a better project to look at. Another point to change for the future is that to look carefully at the LED colors. The reason is that I was a bit panicked after realizing the color of the eyes was different. I think if I had carefully looked at it, then it would be so much nicer than looking like a weird penguin having the opposite eye color. Even though, I am saying this I still think my project was really good as my second sewing project. I am really impressed with how and what I have done the last couple of classes and I really appreciate the teachers who had taught me. It had really helped me and hope to work on this next time!

The front side of the project.    The backside of the project.