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A knitted fox tippet with glowing LED eyes, activated by a magnet when it 'bites' its tail, is the kind of critter eTextile designer Bridget McKendry likes to create.

She tells us about finding, experimenting and teaching a craft where textiles, digital design, electronics and coding converge.

Bridget's talking at the upcoming Fab8NZ public symposium in Wellington about sharing what you make on Instructables, and is co-hosting a Fab Camp weekend workshop on 'interactive ecology'.

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

I’m definitely a night person, I get my best ideas when it is quiet, dark and I’m a bit tired. Also, The night sky! Some of my work is based on southern constellations, so I do like to stargaze.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?

Minimalism by someone who has watched too many cartoons.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

When a stitched circuit works for the first time is always a rush. I can put a lot of work into something but until it’s switched on you don’t really know what’s going to happen.

How does your environment affect your work?

I need good lighting because I’m working with very small components. I like to have a lot of colourful things around like old 80s electronic toys, and my garden is full of native plants and birds, I get a lots of inspiration from them. Not my cats though, they are always very interested in what I’m doing but are quite unhelpful.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

Both.  I can become very focused on detail, if I need to be thinking about electronics or code or textile structures. Conversely I zoom out to seeing the big patterns & systems of things.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Being as organised as possible. Which isn’t as easy as it sounds. Also be generous with sharing your skills & resources – I have gained so much personally and professionally by teaching & sharing ideas with kids and adults alike.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

That’s hard, I’m working in a discipline that is still quite new and experimental, so I’m still working to towards finished works I’m truly happy with. I do like my knitted fox tippet though, it has glowing LED eyes that are activated by a magnet when it “bites” its tail.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

I am quite taken with cryptozoology at the moment, so I was pleased to find out that we had a cryptid in New Zealand called the Waitorere, allegedly a sort of native otter. It will become a toy or a wearable in due course…

Tell us a bit about your background and what you do.

After high school all I wanted to do was study textile design, so I did the three year Craft Design course at Otago Polytechnic School of Art in the very early 90s, majoring in constructed textiles. After that I wanted a change & did a year of Computer Science & Maths, then a friend showed me this new thing called the web using a browser called Mosaic. I learnt HTML and was a web designer for many years, in my spare time tinkering with electronics kits and building little robots.

About four years ago I found out about what was happening with this new eTextiles phenomenon, it was like all my interests rolled into one discipline. I got some conductive thread & later an Arduino lilypad microcontroller and started making stuff. My first light up knitted critter that I sold was a Christmas pixelmouse – a mouse that had a red LED nose and reindeer antlers. I designed an LED flower kit for a friend  who wanted to teach a different sort of craft at a conference. 

I have taught eTextiles to lots of crafters and to kids as well. It’s a very different way of thinking about circuits, and sometimes an introduction for people who would otherwise have never tried electronics. I have a fledgling kit business now and am doing a lot of research and experimentation with conductive materials, my current love is LED matrixes and tiny motors.

What are doing at Fab8NZ and talking about at the symposium?

At Fab8NZ I will be attending the whole conference, I hope to be able to bring back the knowledge to start a Fablab-type makerspace in Christchurch. I am running a workshop with the awesome Tanya Marriott at the weekend Fab Camp called Interactive Ecology  - making critters using textiles, laser cut automata & electronics that are objects in themselves, but interact with each other in different ways.

At the symposium I am speaking with Eric and Saul from Instructables about sharing what you make. I’m an Instructables author and user. I have taught kids basic electronics & robotics and got my first introduction to using conductive thread and Arduino using the tutorials. I even won a tshirt in one of their competitions. Instructables is getting so big now it’s becoming a bit like a Wikipedia of skills.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

Electrical Engineering

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

Christchurch, my home town since 1995. Looking a bit tatty at the moment, but it’s going to make a comeback bigger than Elvis.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

I always used to think that it was through really good headphones, but now it would be through speakers knitted from conductive yarn or made with a spiral of stainless steel thread and a strong magnet. OK the sound is crap, it’s more the idea really.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?

A little hiker's tent for one of my creatures

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

Make a cup of tea. Also the vet told me to calm down my chinchilla before giving it medicine I should wrap him tightly in a blanket and make sure the room is dark. I found that works for me as well.

What’s your big idea for 2013?

Erm, jerseys with knitted in sound systems? Expanding my line of eTextile kits, hopefully getting more people learning this awesome craft. 3D printing & laser cutting my own electrical components and textiles. A textile LED video screen.

* * * The Big Idea Birthday Questions * * *

What does The Big Idea mean to you?

I actually joined 10 years ago, after going to a talk at a conference called Innovate. I was working in web and had lost touch with the arts, it let me see what was happening in New Zealand and helped rekindle my interest in object art.

What changes have you noticed in textiles in the past 10 years?

The big one I think is digital fabrication. Some really cool stuff is coming out, using laser cutting, 3D printing, waste-free cutting techniques,  digital surface design, etc. that I wouldn’t have dreamed of when I was a student. And it’s still early days!

What are some of the opportunities and challenges for the next decade?

I’m still trying to process all the amazing things happening right now. A challenge that concerns me though is the effect an International trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could have on our creative industries.