3D Printed Bikini

3D Printing & Imaging Wearables

These ladies have got it: combine form and function in one 3D file, and print out an entire bathing suit! It’s made from flexible nylon12 cured with an SLS process. I love hearing ladies talk about circle-fill algorithms. If you do too, don’t miss the video with designers Jenna Fizel and Mary Haung. It’s probably crazy expensive to make, but I can’t help but want one to try out at the beach this summer. I wonder what kind of tan lines the “textile” pattern would make.

3dprintedbathingsuit1.jpg

3dprintedbathingsuit2.jpg

24 thoughts on “3D Printed Bikini

  1. Stacy Schuster says:

    Coolest thing EVER!! I want one :-)

  2. Stacy Schuster says:

    Coolest thing EVER!! I want one :-)

  3. Matt K-Dub says:

    I’d like to see the machine printing this out and some assembly.  

  4. dr says:

    Looks about as comfy as wearing a mousepad.

  5. Anonymous says:

    ..don’t get some basics here.  Are many common lego-ish “chain-link” units printed and then later someone clicks them together …or are all the complicated interconnections already specified in the print file and if so does that file look like a nightmare graphviz dot file?

  6. Anonymous says:

    ..don’t get some basics here.  Are many common lego-ish “chain-link” units printed and then later someone clicks them together …or are all the complicated interconnections already specified in the print file and if so does that file look like a nightmare graphviz dot file?

    1. Duann Scott says:

      The bikini is 3d printed in 4 sections to make it more economical.

      the first iteration was printed as one whole unit

    2. Steve Hoefer says:

      Essentially the latter. It’s printed as a form of chain mail, with the interlocking loops already interlocked. While this is basically a tech demo showing the detail and accuracy that 3D printers have achieved, it’s something that is going to be used to create specialized textiles in the future, much in the same way that larger scale 3D printing is replacing (for example) airplane parts that can be 3D printed in ways that are impossible to machine. 3d printed wearables can have a unique properties that enhance how it wears, flows, retains heat, etc.  And unlike other methods its possible to pretty simply make something that is essentially seamless but that fits your personal contours perfectly.

      If you watch the video it explains how the complex 3D printable data is generated for this project.  It’s not hand modeled, but the basic shape is defined and then automatically filled with their custom interlocking springy sphere things. And yes, it’s generally printed from a ginormous standard file format such as STL, OBJ, or VRML for color prints.

    3. Steve Hoefer says:

      Essentially the latter. It’s printed as a form of chain mail, with the interlocking loops already interlocked. While this is basically a tech demo showing the detail and accuracy that 3D printers have achieved, it’s something that is going to be used to create specialized textiles in the future, much in the same way that larger scale 3D printing is replacing (for example) airplane parts that can be 3D printed in ways that are impossible to machine. 3d printed wearables can have a unique properties that enhance how it wears, flows, retains heat, etc.  And unlike other methods its possible to pretty simply make something that is essentially seamless but that fits your personal contours perfectly.

      If you watch the video it explains how the complex 3D printable data is generated for this project.  It’s not hand modeled, but the basic shape is defined and then automatically filled with their custom interlocking springy sphere things. And yes, it’s generally printed from a ginormous standard file format such as STL, OBJ, or VRML for color prints.

  7. Anonymous says:

    ..don’t get some basics here.  Are many common lego-ish “chain-link” units printed and then later someone clicks them together …or are all the complicated interconnections already specified in the print file and if so does that file look like a nightmare graphviz dot file?

  8. Anonymous says:

    ..don’t get some basics here.  Are many common lego-ish “chain-link” units printed and then later someone clicks them together …or are all the complicated interconnections already specified in the print file and if so does that file look like a nightmare graphviz dot file?

  9. Andrew S. Parnell says:

    So cool. So very cool.

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Becky Stern is a Content Creator at Autodesk/Instructables, and part time faculty at New York’s School of Visual Arts Products of Design grad program. Making and sharing are her two biggest passions, and she's created hundreds of free online DIY tutorials and videos, mostly about technology and its intersection with crafts. Find her @bekathwia on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram.

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