How to Design Your Own Sports T-shirt

Designing your own sports T-shirts is a cost-effective way to create a team uniform. A team's uniform denotes the unity of its players. It also makes the team identifiable to spectators and opponents. Customize the shirts yourself to give the shirt a personal touch that represents the team and the individual players. Choose a color for the shirts and a design that all the teammates are comfortable with.

Things You'll Need

  • Cotton T-shirt
  • Cardboard
  • Scissors
  • Fabric markers
  • Fabric paint
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Instructions

    • 1

      Brainstorm colors for the shirts. The entire team should have the same color. The color can represent the spirit of the team or the sport. For example, red is known as a "power" color and is very dominant and fierce. A neon color will be a very bold and vibrant choice. A pink or lavender is considered a feminine color. Blue and green are known as calm and soothing colors. Yellow is thought of as a cheerful color.

    • 2

      Purchase or choose a plain T-shirt in a breathable fabric, such as cotton. Apparel used for sports needs to be breathable in that an athlete will sweat during the games and practices.

    • 3

      Write the team name to scale on a piece of paper. Cut it out and position it on the shirt to get an idea for size and effect. Trim or increase the size of the letters as necessary.

    • 4

      Draw the team mascot or symbol on a piece of paper, cut it out and position it on the shirt with the team name to visualize the layout before you commit to drawing it. Trim or increase the size of the drawing as necessary.

    • 5

      Trace the letters and drawing onto pieces of cardboard and cut out the shapes to create stencils. Lay the stencils on top of the front of the shirts and trace around the stencils with a fabric marker to transfer the outline of the shapes onto the shirt. Fill in the letters and the imagery with fabric paint.

    • 6

      Create stencils for the player's name and number for the back of the shirt. Once the front is dry, lay out the stencils on the back of the shirt to visualize the layout. Make adjustments until the name and the number reach the desired layout.

    • 7

      Trace the name and number stencils with a fabric marker. Fill in the name and the numbers with fabric paint to make them more visible.