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Blinking an LED with LilyPad Arduino
Ed

Created by

Ed

13. July 2026FI
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Blinking an LED with LilyPad Arduino

Step up from a plain sewn circuit to a sewable computer. The LilyPad Arduino is a washable microcontroller you program from your PC, then run on a coin cell — so your fabric can blink, fade and react on its own. This project sews an LED to the board and uploads the classic 'blink' sketch: the gateway to every sensor-driven wearable that follows.

Intermediate
1 hour

Instructions

1

Sew the LilyPad Arduino and an LED

Sew a LilyPad Arduino Simple board and a LilyPad LED onto felt with conductive thread: the LED's + tab to numbered pin 5, and the LED's - tab to the board's - tab. Loop 3–4 times through each hole, trim tails, and keep the two lines from crossing.

Materials for this step:

LilyPad Arduino Simple BoardLilyPad Arduino Simple Board1 piece
LilyPad LED - 5 pcsLilyPad LED - 5 pcs1 pack
Conductive Thread - 60g (Stainless Steel)Conductive Thread - 60g (Stainless Steel)1 spool
Hand Sewing Needles (Assorted, 30-Pack)Hand Sewing Needles (Assorted, 30-Pack)1 pack
Wool Felt SheetWool Felt Sheet1 sheet
2

Connect the FTDI programmer

Plug a LilyPad FTDI Basic Breakout onto the board's 6-pin programming header (line up GND to GND, DTR to DTR) and connect it to your computer with a USB cable. Install the free Arduino IDE, then choose the LilyPad Arduino board and the FTDI's serial port under Tools.

Materials for this step:

LilyPad FTDI Basic Breakout - 5VLilyPad FTDI Basic Breakout - 5V1 piece
SparkFun Cerberus USB Cable - 1.8 meterSparkFun Cerberus USB Cable - 1.8 meter1 piece

Tools needed:

Computer with Arduino IDEComputer with Arduino IDE
3

Upload the blink sketch

Paste this sketch into the Arduino IDE and click Upload. It flashes the LED on pin 5 on and off twice a second.

lilypad_blink.inoarduino
// Blink an LED sewn to a LilyPad Arduino
// The LED's + tab is stitched to pin 5, its - tab to the board's - (GND).

const int LED_PIN = 5;   // LilyPad LED sewn to pin 5

void setup() {
  pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT);   // pin 5 drives the LED
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH); // LED on
  delay(500);                  // wait half a second
  digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);  // LED off
  delay(500);                  // wait half a second
}

// TRY THIS:
// - delay(100) for fast blinking, delay(2000) for slow
// - different ON and OFF times: HIGH delay(800), LOW delay(200)
4

Go wireless on a coin cell

Unplug the FTDI. Sew a LilyPad coin-cell battery holder to the board — + tab to +, - tab to - — and drop in a CR2032. Switch it on and the LED blinks on its own, no computer attached. Your fabric now runs its own program.

Materials for this step:

LilyPad Coin Cell Battery Holder - w/Switch - 20mmLilyPad Coin Cell Battery Holder - w/Switch - 20mm1 piece
CR2032 Coin Cell BatteryCR2032 Coin Cell Battery1 piece
5

Experiment

Re-attach the FTDI and change the sketch: adjust the delays for a heartbeat rhythm, or sew a second LED to another pin and blink them in turn. This is the base every LilyPad sensor project builds on.

Materials

9

Tools Required

1
Estimated Total
$90.00

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