I just took a remarkable weekend workshop on eTextiles at SparkFun , home of the LilyPad Pro programed with Arduino (same workshop Inga Marie mentioned). Now I’m full of fiber and electronics questions.
One of the suggestions was to make your soon-to-be-adapted textile out of fibers that wick moisture away from sensitive electronics. Examples given were bamboo and linen.
Apparently fibers like cotton and wool are no-nos, since they tend to hold water and mess with electronics. Unfortunate, since I can find a lot of bamboo/wool or bamboo/cotton combinations.
Now I’m hunting 100% bamboo yarn and bamboo roving, and old-style bamboo (produced like linen) rather than rayon versions. Silk City Fibers has Bambu 7 and Bambu 11 (rayon) for weaving, and SWTC has one line just called “Bamboo” which is 100% bamboo rayon and seems to be still produced.
I think Plymouth has discontinued their 100% bamboo “Royal Bamboo” line, Rowan seemed to have discontinued “Bamboo Soft”. I found some Bamboo Soft for sale online at http://hamptonknittingyarn.com/bamboo_soft.aspx
I’m wondering if this FTC decision is partly responsible for the disappearing 100% bamboo fiber.
“Bamboo” Textiles. Issues, Cases, and Education from the Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo