3 Tips for Decorating Sports Jerseys with Siser® HTV
Even if sports aren’t your strong suit, you shouldn’t ignore this lucrative market. From practice gear to game day apparel and all the accessories in between- teams are a great way to get started in the decoration business! But before you jump in, check out our top 3 tips for making a quality, custom jersey.
Tip #1: Know Your Jersey’s Needs
Depending on the type of fabric the jersey is made of, you may need more than just your basic EasyWeed® to get the job done. Here are some of the most common types of jerseys and the HTV that will work best with each:
Polyester/Spandex Blends= EasyWeed® Stretch
Volleyball, football, cheerleading and many more use Poly/spandex blend uniforms. For stretchy fabric, you need a stretchy HTV! Available in over 30 cool colors, there are a lot of options when it comes to EasyWeed Stretch!
Polyester/Nylon Blends= EasyWeed® Extra
Football, baseball, and some basketball jerseys can be made with nylon. Nylon is a slippery fabric that doesn’t play nice with most HTV but can be decorated with the help of EasyWeed Extra. While EasyWeed Extra is only available in black and white, you can layer other kinds of HTV on top of Extra to get the look you’re going for!
Sublimated Polyester = EasyWeed® Sub Block
Most commonly made for motocross, soccer, and golf these types of jerseys and polos are dyed with sublimated inks that will migrate when heated again leading to discolored HTV. See how the EasyWeed® on the left is turning pink? EasyWeed Sub Block has built in dye blockers that prevent discoloring! So it stays bright white on the right side of the jersey shown above. Even though, EasyWeed Sub Block only comes in a couple colors, you can layer other kinds of HTV on top to get the look you want with the dye blockers you need!
Tip #2: Place a Heat Transfer Pillow Inside the Jersey
Many jerseys are made with mesh and these types of fabrics have holes in them. Some mesh have smaller holes and some have larger gaps. These open areas can allow the adhesive from HTV to seep through and can seal the front and back of the jersey together, but you can avoid this pressing problem with a simple fix!
A Heat Transfer Pillow is a super handy tool you can put inside the garment to separate the front from the back. This pillow is wrapped in non-stick cover sheets so even if the adhesive makes it through the mesh, your jersey won’t be stuck to anything but the HTV!
A Pillow also helps compensate for any pressure problems you may experience from the bulky yoke of a football jersey, the buttons down the front of a split-front baseball jersey, or any of the other many pressure roadblocks jerseys can present. Don’t believe me? Check out the video below!
Tip #3: Keep It Simple
The more colors you include in your design = the more money you can charge for the finished product. But it can also mean more time and effort on your part. When it comes to larger orders- like those for outfitting a whole team- it’s wise to consider how you can simplify the job. Here are 3 ways to make team orders easier:
Limit Colors & Materials
1 and 2 Color logos are common, but when you start to move into the 3+ range it can become time consuming. If your customer is looking for a logo with multiple colors, you may want to jump to my final suggestion.
Pair Screen Printing with Heat Transfer Vinyl
Since the team logo on the front of jerseys are always the same, consider screen printing the fronts and using HTV on the backs. This way you only have to burn 1 screen for the front logo and then you can cut custom names and numbers to apply on the backs without having to burn a new screen for each different back print.
Use Digital Media For More Colors
All the HTV we talked about in this blog post can be layered for a multi color look, but if you want to go past 3 colors/layers that’s when we’d recommend looking into our Digital Media options. We have wide format materials that are soft and stretchy, strong for nylon, and built for sublimated polyester. We even offer thicker, silicone-like materials that the pro brands are becoming so fond of- Check out DigiBrick™ shown below! Whatever the team style is, we have something to match!
No matter the season- there’s always some kind of sport going on! Which one will you make a jersey for? If you’re still feeling a little nervous about personalizing a jersey, you can watch the process in the video below.