DIY a hat with a programmable LED display

This is an amazing, easy-to-make hat with a programmable LED display that can show any color, image, and animation you can put into the 8x8 matrix.

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If you're tired of buying a different hat for every occasion, if you frequently switch between favorite sports teams, or if you want a gorgeous, versatile, and unique hat that no one else has, then we'll show you how to make a relatively simple, customizable hat that can display any combination of colors, images, and animations that you can fit into an 8x8 LED display.

Creating a Screen

Step 1: Display Template

You will need to make a template of the LED matrix to determine the size of the area to cut from the screen material and the cap. The template should be about 1/4" wide on each side of the square to allow enough room for attachment of the border and cap.

Step 2: Cut Out the Screen

You can make a protective screen cover for the display that will protect the LED matrix and help hide the LED matrix circuit board. This screen will be applied to the outside of the hat. Center the paper template over the full face visor and trace the border with a marker. The outline of this visor will closely match the outline of the hat. Use a pair of sharp scissors to cut out the traced area.

Step 3: Cutting the Border Material

The screen wouldn't look very good if applied directly to the hat, so we borrowed some material from the inside flap of the hat to create a border around the screen. Use a very sharp pair of fabric scissors to cut this strip of material. We didn't have scissors, so we used a pair of tin snips. Make sure to leave a few inches of flap on the hat. We will use this flap later to tuck the electronics in. With this particular hat, we started cutting from one end about an inch away from the tab.

Step 4: Drilling the Screen Holes

You will need to sew the material you just cut to the edges of the screen. But because it is difficult to get the needle through the plastic, take a small drill bit and drill holes about 5 to 8 mm along all four edges.

Step 5: Sew the Border

Next, cut the border material into 4 strips, each the length of one side of the screen. Then, take a sewing needle and thread and sew the material around the border using the pre-drilled holes. We used a running stitch pattern. It's okay if there's some overlap in the corners; it will look good once the cap is attached.

This will be the screen. Next, after the hat is ready, we will use the fabric edge we just put on to attach it to the front of the hat.

Modify the hat

Step 6: Trace the Display Holes

Since the LED matrix and electronics will be mounted inside the hat, we need to cut a hole out of the hat for the display. Take the same paper template you made earlier and very carefully center it on the inside of the hat. Trace over the template with your maker, and cut out the area. We found that a box cutter with a sawing motion worked well and made a fairly clean cut. Don't worry if the edges aren't super clean; they will be covered by the border of the screen.

Step 7: Cleaning Up the Edges (Optional)

If you want to clean up the edges a bit you can take a lighter and burn off any loose threads hanging off the edges.

Step 8: Sewing the Screen on the Hat

We can now attach the screen to the hat. Simply use the fabric edge to sew the screen to the hat (you don't have to pierce the plastic material). We use the same running stitch sewing pattern.

Mounting Hardware

Step 9: Glue the LED Matrix to the Hat

Now the hat is finally ready for the LED matrix. Luckily, there is no more sewing involved. Carefully position the 8x8 RGB Flexible LED Matrix behind the square hole with the wires facing the flap of material you left to house the electronics. Then take some Gorilla Tape and apply it to the border of the LED Matrix.

You will also need to remove the top two sets of wires from the back of the LED matrix before you glue it to the hat. You can do this by heating the contacts that connect the wires with a soldering iron. The picture above shows the silver electrical contacts used to connect the wires.

Step 10: Cover All Electrical Contacts

To prevent anything from inadvertently shorting the electrical connections on the back of the LED matrix, take three small strips of electrical tape and cover all of the contacts.

Step 11: Connecting the Wearable Electronics Platform

The display is controlled by a little Flora wearable electronics platform from Adafruit. You will need to solder some extension wire to the leads coming out of the display so that the electronics platform can be connected. In step 3, use enough wire to extend to the inside of the flap on the left side of the hat.

Next, solder the other ends to the contacts on the platform shown in the picture below: white wire to ground, green wire to #6, and red wire to VBATT.

Step 12: Install Electronics Platform and Battery

Use tape to tie off the wires that run along the inside of the hat toward the flap. Connect the Adafruit 3.7V 500mAh Li-ion Polymer Battery to the Electronics Platform. Then stuff both the battery and the Electronics Platform into the flap. We found that these components stayed in place pretty well without any help.

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Step 13: Programming and Loading Software

To program the display, plug the Flora electronics platform into your computer using a USB cable. The platform can be programmed using the Arduino IDE. You can download the code and view full setup instructions below the article.

Step 14: Put It On

Now go show off!