Thread the EL wire from the back, widening the hole with your awl so that the whole wire fits through. Keep in mind the starting hole's location matters in more intricate designs- you want to minimize the amount of wire 'lost' when threading it back behind the board. Pull the wire all the way through, leaving just the tail connector behind. Double up the clear thread on your needle so that you're essentially tying a big loop of thread around it. This will make it much easier to start and end each length of thread and strand of EL.
Sew loops around the wire every inch or as needed around tight turns so that you're tacking it down. The tighter you pull the EL wire and the thread, the more clean and smooth your designs will look. Create short stitches that are perpendicular to the EL wire, then run longer stitches across the back of the poster board over to the next stitch location.
Create tight corners by bending the EL wire around the needle, but be careful not to break the interior corona wires.
When you've reached the end, tie it off!
We didn't have to, but if you want to salvage as much EL as possible, you can cut and solder on a male in-line power connector.
Page last edited September 01, 2012
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