The first thing to work on is how to attach the connector to a soft material like felt. Can't really solder it, of course.

I asked around and got some great ideas for how to approach this. I ended up getting some small, skinny protoboards - I figured I could solder the connector to the board, and it could act as both a "spine" to hold up the felt creation, and as a wiring carrier.  The boards I got are probably just a little too tall, but I should be able to trim them to size.

My soldering skills are pretty basic, and after a bunch of missteps, I did manage to solder the connector to the little board. Works pretty much like I envisioned, but I kind of stumbled around with trying to make connections that I could attach conductive thread to. Normally you want a little loop or something you can wrap the thread around.

I finally ended up using some little jumper wires, bending one end into a sewing loop, and soldering the other to the pin. Not complex stuff - just the power and ground.

It worked, though - both for the power and as a sturdy "spine" that can hold the felt creation.

[So there's a little more solder there than absolutely necessary. Whatevs. ]

Successfully attached!