How to Make a Team Spirit Shirt

Nowadays, the T-shirt is second only to the bumper sticker as an expression of personal opinion. Especially among young people, T-shirts are a part of the culture. You can use this fact to promote team spirit. There are many ways to make a T-shirt designed to promote your school or team, and the project itself is a great opportunity for people to work together. All the way around, team spirit wins.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A spray bottle of bleach
• Pre-washed plain T-shirts
• Contact paper
• Fabric decorating materials: fabrics paints, glue, crayons, jewels, sequins, etc.

Make a School-Wide Team Spirit Shirt

1. Decide on about three designs in advance for a team spirit shirt. They need to be attractive but simple enough to reproduce. Consider holding a contest for the best design, prescribing what it should include--the school initials, colors, mascot or slogans.
2. Put the designs in a reproducible form. Print them out on transfer paper, make a stencil or transparency and cut them out in silhouette shapes.
3. Call on the school's art department to choose how best to create the shirts (fabric paint, dye, crayons or iron-on transfer) and supervise those who make them. Have the booster club, the cheerleaders and those who made the shirts wear them on spirit and game days.
4. If you think there is enough interest, begin selling the shirts school-wide. Unless you have the cooperation of many volunteers, you may need to send the design to a bulk T-shirt or copying place.

Make an Individual Team Spirit Shirt

5. Throw a T-shirt party or set up a "Make-a-T-Shirt" booth at a school or community fair. Have materials, shirts and volunteers to to help people paint them. Charge for providing a pre-washed shirt and allow those who bring their own shirts to decorate them at no cost.
6. Make a silhouette shirt by placing letter and shape outlines on the shirt (contact paper works best). Spray bleach on the shirt from a spray bottle. After about one and a half to two minutes, take the contact paper off, rinse the shirt in a dish pan of clean water and let it dry.
7. Use fabric paint and tube paint in school colors to letter and decorate a shirt. Have copies of slogans and transfers or stencils of the school mascot on hand.
8. Provide a shirt already imprinted with a basic design. Use permanent fabric glue, jewels, yarn or sequins to decorate it.
9. Wear the shirts at games, rallies and on spirit days.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are going to sell your team spirit shirt to the entire school, begin sales at homecoming or some other big event.
• Have teachers or staff members present at all times as the shirts are being made to prevent accidents, make sure the decorations are appropriate and supervise clean-up.

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