Quick look: 41955 Stitch-on Patch
Posted by Huw,
The latest innovation to be introduced to DOTS is flexible plates that can be sewn onto clothing. They are available in 41961 Designer Toolkit - Patterns and the much more affordable 41955 Stitch-on Patch which contains one of them plus 94 1x1 tiles of various shapes and colours to decorate it with.
The 6x6 plate has holes around its edges to enable it to be sewn onto clothes or other fabrics. It's 56mm square, so slightly smaller than an 8x8, and is the same thickness as the large vacuum-formed baseplates.
I believe it's made from then same plastic as the wristbands, although I can't find the few that I own to check.
1x1 pieces are held on surprisingly securely, and I think it's unlikely that they'll ping off under normal circumstances. That wouldn't be the case for anything bigger, though, and I'm not sure you'd want to put clothes in the washing machine with them still attached.
A good selection of 1x1 pieces in a variety of shapes and colours are provided with which to decorate it, and surprisingly the medium lavender 1x1 round tiles are new in this set.
Here's a possible use for AFOLs: if you have a favourite jacket you wear to LEGO events you could sew this to it and use it to mount a few event bricks securely onto.
The set costs £5.99 / $5.99 so definitely worth buying to experiment with!
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31 comments on this article
I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go.
@darthnorman said:
"I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go."
Because not every set or theme in the LEGO repertoire needs to appeal to every AFOL…
- - -
As for the set itself, it’s a clever idea, and I’m sure someone will come up with some creative usage in an MOC.
These are the most exciting parts of the latest wave for me. I'm glad they didn't remain exclusive to Levi's. Haven't decided between an individual one of these or 41961 yet.
Yeah the bracelets have great clutch power; I'm pleased that the same is the case here. I'd preferably put them somewhere I know I don't bump a lot to minimize the risk of some 1x1s getting knocked off (I already lost some in a fall a couple years ago), but in general they don't come off without using force.
@darthnorman said:
"I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go."
Because of people like me: https://brickset.com/sets/ownedby-LegoSonicBoy/theme-Dots You're welcome.
Dots is arguably the most creative theme Lego currently has. You can create whatever your imagination allows.
This is the first DOTs set that I have wanted enough to buy! This is so cool! Does anyone know if it’s possible to put one of these on a baseball cap?
@Cooliocdawg said:
"This is the first DOTs set that I have wanted enough to buy! This is so cool! Does anyone know if it’s possible to put one of these on a baseball cap?"
I don't see why not, especially on flat-peaked ones.
When this piece is sewn onto a piece of clothing, is it still able to be put through the washing machine?
@darthnorman said:
"I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go."
Because mosaics are very popular even now, and DOTS offers a wide range of products.
- Pencil Holders with little storage spaces
- Photo Frames
- Jewelry boxes/hangers
- Message Boards
- Cupcakes you can decorate over and over 41926 : Creative Party Kit
- Bracelets
- Bag Tags
- Party Flags : 41962 : Unicorn Creative Family Pack
The 2 LOTS of DOTS sets have been great expansion kits as well.
41935 : Lots of DOTS
41950 : Lots of DOTS - Lettering
Now, personally I would not put LEGO on clothing , Bag Tags, or Shoes (Adidas), but the fact DOTS, LEVI's and Adidas promote those products, even past the first years, likely means it's popular enough.
For Adults LEGO has introduced the ART theme which is basicly DOTS/tiles related but at a much larger scale :
21226 : Art Project - Create Together is a bit inbetween as it also has 16x16 artworks.
Products like 31203 : World Map are the largest, and then the other licensed artwork sets can be combine 3 sets into 1 big artwork.
Outside of LEGO, there is Ministeck and Iron on Beads which existed for decades now , but Diamond Painting has been a more recent Hype.
Outside of Mosaics, there are Paint by number kits, and Coloring Books for Adults etc.
@darthnorman said:
"I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go."
Because it's not for you or me? We buy at least 4 Dots sets a year to give as birthday gifts for my son's classmates. They're always a hit. Seems like a great theme to me, even if I'm not the target demo.
@Huw said:
" @Cooliocdawg said:
"This is the first DOTs set that I have wanted enough to buy! This is so cool! Does anyone know if it’s possible to put one of these on a baseball cap?"
I don't see why not, especially on flat-peaked ones."
Never mind on baseball caps... what about on your budgie smugglers!
@sjr60 said:
" @Huw said:
" @Cooliocdawg said:
"This is the first DOTs set that I have wanted enough to buy! This is so cool! Does anyone know if it’s possible to put one of these on a baseball cap?"
I don't see why not, especially on flat-peaked ones."
Never mind on baseball caps... what about on your budgie smugglers!"
Front, or back?
@MeisterDad said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @Huw said:
" @Cooliocdawg said:
"This is the first DOTs set that I have wanted enough to buy! This is so cool! Does anyone know if it’s possible to put one of these on a baseball cap?"
I don't see why not, especially on flat-peaked ones."
Never mind on baseball caps... what about on your budgie smugglers!"
Front, or back?"
Strictly dependant on clutch power...
@CDM said:
" @darthnorman said:
"I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go."
Because it's not for you or me? We buy at least 4 Dots sets a year to give as birthday gifts for my son's classmates. They're always a hit. Seems like a great theme to me, even if I'm not the target demo."
We have purchased SO MANY Dots bracelets and bag tags for birthday favors and gifts. My 6yo daughter also loves the message boards and other household objects. It's quickly become one of our household's favorite themes, even if I'm still spending a lot more on Star Wars and Creator Expert sets.
@Agent00Z said:
"When this piece is sewn onto a piece of clothing, is it still able to be put through the washing machine?"
Theoretically it could be, I suppose, but repeated washing might cause some slight wearing to the patch. Especially as it's clearly made of a softer material than we're used to getting in LEGO sets. That's apparently a big problem with washing plastic-based clothes; it's a great way to create a lot of microsplastics, which are decidedly not ideal.
I suspect these patches are designed to attach to items of clothing that don't need washing all that often. The lifestyle shots show them sewn onto a jacket and a woolly hat, which (at least in my experience) are washed only on rare occasions.
@Agent00Z said:
"When this piece is sewn onto a piece of clothing, is it still able to be put through the washing machine?"
I wash my Lego Dots Levis regularly and have not had an issue with it, and I don't think the material on those is that different from these plates or the wristbands. It'd probably be best to avoid running them on a high-temperature load, but otherwise I don't think there'd be too much of an issue.
@LegoSonicBoy said:
@darthnorman said:
[[I still don't get why Dots it is still on the market, but there you go.]]
Because of people like me: https://brickset.com/sets/ownedby-LegoSonicBoy/theme-Dots You're welcome.]]
Lol! LegoSonicBoy, you rock. I’m glad we have DOTS and DOTS Super Fans!
Good review! I honestly wasn’t so sure what to make of this at first, since I worried a 6x6 “canvas” wouldn’t offer enough room for a whole lot of creative possibilities. But after seeing the impressive variety of suggested patterns (e.g. a roaring tiger, a short message in brick lettering, a funny face, and a gorgeous floral pattern) in the set’s instruction manual after it showed up online yesterday, I’m beginning to realize I wasn’t giving this set nearly enough credit!
If the designers could come up with that many diverse and clever patterns with just the tile shapes and colors in this one set, then I can only imagine how many brilliant patterns you could whip up using a larger collection of Dots tiles!
The biggest drawback of these new stitch-on patches so far is that their colors are much more limited than the bracelets, bag tags, etc, which all launched in a wider range of colors. But I figure that variety will probably expand at least a little bit in future waves.
I imagine a lot of AFOLs would particularly appreciate getting this patch in a neutral color like white or black that could be attached to various colors of clothing or decorated with all sorts of different tile colors without clashing.
Anyway, I’m not too keen on this set in particular myself, since I don’t have any super clear idea of what I’d want to sew it to. But I’m always glad to see the Dots theme continuing to innovate in new and creative ways, and this set is no exception!
I use an old air hockey table as the location for an older Tyco slot car set that was originally my Dad's, but is now mostly consistent of pieces I myself bought as poor storage by my Dad in a leaky garage ruined most pieces. Rats had chewed many of the bridge/overpass supports, and I had to make my own, largely out of clone brand pieces I'd weeded out and otherwise would have tossed. I am pretty excited about these patches, as they will keep the darn things from sliding. I think the adhesive ones will work spectacularly well, but I'll try these first.
I've ordered one of the adhesive patch sets to see if the plate can be incorporated into builds.
Is this available in black or yellow? Blacktron or Black Knight Logos might be viable for a Metal vest...
I kinda wanna make a sweater out of these...
Alright, I guess the theme is just not for me, have fun with it. ;)
@Yorick said:
"I kinda wanna make a sweater out of these..."
If you had a bunch of black and blue ones, you could probably stick them together and make a cool Falcon knight checked scale mail.
Now I want to sew an entire jacket made exclusively of these patches stitched together, covered in DOTS tiles. Someone has to do it, may as well get started.
Thank you, @Cooliocdawg, for giving me that idea!
I plan on buying a plain baseball cap with this set, and experimenting with that! It'd be cool if I could build a skull-and-crossbones. Shame light blue looks a little too bright...
@Torrent_Studios said:
"Thank you, @Cooliocdawg, for giving me that idea!
I plan on buying a plain baseball cap with this set, and experimenting with that! It'd be cool if I could build a skull-and-crossbones. Shame light blue looks a little too bright..."
I’m planning on trying to make a classic space trucker style hat. The skull and crossbones idea sounds really cool! Maybe they’ll make more colors in the next wave like they did with the bracelets?
This would be great to add to my regular sweatshirt, as my Levi one is a bit to heavyweight for me. Or to add to my Lego tote bag.
I'm happy to have a new size of baseplate, even if it's a weird one. It could be water around the legs of a bridge.
@Atuin said:
"Is this available in black or yellow? Blacktron or Black Knight Logos might be viable for a Metal vest... "
I don't think these are available in black or yellow, but I got some yellow ones when LEGO did the collaboration with Levi's, as the Yellow patches like this weer on loads of different items of clothing.
(they also had a lot more holes around the edges to sew them on more securely)
@Mister_Jonny said:
"That's apparently a big problem with washing plastic-based clothes; it's a great way to create a lot of microsplastics, which are decidedly not ideal. "
Oh no, you've given me another thing to worry about! I already sun-dry my clothes, you're about to send me down the rabbit-hole of hand-washing!
Huh, I guess I missed my chance to edit my last throwaway comment. I thought I'd posted this request when this article first posted, but it's not here, so I'll repeat: it would be great to get some reporting on how well this works as a sew-on, e.g. what size needle fits through, are there enough holes to get a solid hold on fabric, etc.