A STEM Project: TurtleStitch Embroidery Meets Electronics With the MakerPort

TurtleStitch Embroidery Meets Electronics With the MakerPort

Youtube Video of the MakerPort in Action

I've been having a lot of fun exploring the Makerport, and I wanted to share that excitement with Cynthia Solomon. Since TurtleStitch is one of Cynthia's passions, I decided to bring the two together: a project that combines embroidery design with electronics, using TurtleStitch and the Makerport.

This isn't my first time pairing the Makerport with a creative theme. I've also had fun with my own Disney Animation Studio, building dioramas around Frozen and Beauty and the Beast. (You can see the Frozen piece here.) But this sunshine design was a chance to bring TurtleStitch itself into the mix, front and center.

The Design

I started with a simple sun, stitched in TurtleStitch using the arc block. The sun itself is a 360 degree arc circle, divided into six sections. At each intersection point, the turtle turns to align with the larger circle, then draws two arcs outward to form a wavy ray. The face in the center uses arc blocks too, for the eyes, smile, and cheeks.

You can view the design here: Sun With LED Lights on TurtleStitch

At the end of each of the six rays, I placed a small arc circle marking where an LED light attaches. These are Flashing Colors Easy-Connect LED ribbon cables, wired to pins 7 through 12 on the Makerport.

For the interactive element, I used three touch points on the Makerport, each fitted with an earring post. Touch one of the three points and a sunshine-themed song plays: "You Are My Sunshine," "Here Comes the Sun," or "Under the Boardwalk."

How the Program Works

The Makerport runs on MicroBlocks, a live, blocks-based programming environment. At startup, the program does two things: it lights up all six LEDs and sets the MP3 player volume to 20 (out of 30).

 MicroBlocks Program

From there, it waits. The program runs a separate script that continuously checks for touch events, so the device can sit idle with its LEDs glowing while listening for a touch at the same time. This is event-driven programming: the device does nothing until a touch triggers a response, then reacts instantly to play a 30 second clip of a song.

• Touch pad 1 plays Track 1, You are my Sunshine
• Touch pad 5 plays Track 2, Here comes the Sun
• Touch pad 12 plays Track 3, Under the Boardwalk

Reach out, tap a point on the MakerPort, and a song begins. No screen, no buttons, just touch.

Programming with AI: A New Way to Build MicroBlocks Projects

I want to highlight something I find genuinely exciting about this project. Roger Wagner, a friend of mine and the creator of the Makerport, has built an AI Program Helper right into MakerPort.Net. Roger is a pioneer in educational computing, best known for HyperStudio, the multimedia authoring tool that introduced a generation of students and teachers to creative technology in the classroom.

With this AI helper, you don't have to write MicroBlocks code from scratch. You describe what you want your Makerport to do in plain English, and the helper generates or modifies a working program for you. I used it to build and refine the touch-and-music program for this sunshine project, and it made the process fast and approachable.

This is exactly the kind of tool that lowers the barrier to physical computing. Roger has spent his career making creative technology accessible to everyone, and bringing AI into MicroBlocks programming is a natural extension of that mission. If you want to explore project ideas, wiring guides, or try the AI helper yourself, visit MakerPort.Net.

If you'd like to get a Makerport of your own, you can find it at makerport.fun.

A Second Version: From Wearable to Picture Frame

TurtleStitch Created Box Frame

The original sunshine design was made for a wearable, meant to be soft and flexible enough to wear. But I wanted to show how the same design would hold up in a more rigid form, so I created a second version housed in a Silhouette box, turning the piece into a picture frame instead. It's the same sunshine design and the same electronics underneath, but the sturdier frame gives it a completely different presence, more suited to display than to wear.

The box holds the same components

I even used TurtleStitch itself to design the custom-sized frame: Variable Size Picture Frame. It let me generate a frame sized exactly to fit the piece, rather than working around a fixed dimension. 

If you'd like to cut your own frame, I'm sharing both file formats:

• .Studio file for Silhouette users
• SVG file for everyone else

Why This Matters

This kind of simple touch-to-sound interaction has real potential beyond one embroidered sun. It could anchor an interactive art installation, a classroom music activity for young learners, or an accessibility tool where a gentle tap is all that's needed to trigger an outcome. Combining TurtleStitch's embroidery design capability with Makerport's physical computing, and now AI-assisted coding, opens up a lot of directions for future projects.