Mounting LEDs in leather?

Hi,

Can anyone share any experiences working with LEDs and leather?

Thanks,
Andrew

Use an awl to make holes for the leads and then mount the LED's like you would in any other fabric.

I was hoping to not sew through the leather. Is there some kind of fabric glue that works reliably? Maybe plain old silicone cement?

AndrewStone:
I was hoping to not sew through the leather. Is there some kind of fabric glue that works reliably? Maybe plain old silicone cement?

You want to mount everything on the surface of the leather? I guess silicone adhesive would work.

Sorry, I think I am not being descriptive enough. I do want the electronics on the back of the leather (although you are making me think; I wonder if leather would be a good thru-hole mounting surface for a paper-duino like thing). Anyway, I think that your idea to use an awl or leather punch to cut a tiny hole is a good one. Now you said "and then mount the LEDs like you would any other fabric". To me that means sewing conductive thread through the leather, which I'd rather not do... maybe you mount to fabric differently?

If the LED goes through the hole, or just the leads, that would be on the other side, where you can mount the rest of the circuitry. So you can either make a 3mm or 5mm (LED depending) hole and stick the LED through, OR two 1mm (or smaller) holes right next to each other, and shove the leads through to the other side of the leather.