How to Design Your Own Polo Shirt

The brand Polo with its trademark horseman is extremely popular and can be customized at the official website.

Polo shirts are extremely popular for work and casual attire, and the Polo brand is even more popular than the classic, collared, knit style itself. Now, you can design your own Polo (or polo) shirt on or offline. If you want the name brand, then you will need to order your custom item, but if you are more interested in expressing yourself on any polo-style top, then you can do this project at home. In this article, we will briefly address how to design your own Polo shirt, but focus mainly on designing a polo shirt that expresses your own individuality.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Internet connection
• Polo shirt
• Embroidered letters
• Fabric glue
• Fabric paint (optional)
• Small iron on patch (no more than one inch in diameter)
• Iron
• Paper
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Order a custom Polo shirt from the Polo brand website. They will let you select the color of the shirt, the color of the horseman, and your specific measurements. Depending on the style of shirt that you order, there may be other customization options. Even if you do not order from the website, this can be a good place to get ideas.

2. Sketch the design for your polo shirt. You may wish to have lettering on the back, a picture on the front, or other personalized touches. You should definitely leave room to put your own spin on the small patch on the front of the shirt on the upper lefthand side.

3. 

   Lay out your design on the polo shirt. You should lay out your letters and patches before you start applying them to make sure that all your text fits. Start with the side of the shirt that is most complicated--in most cases, the back will hold more lettering and will allow for more creativity.

4. Apply your design to the shirt once you like all the elements' positions. You may need to use an iron to iron on patches, or you can use the fabric glue to fix them firmly to the fabric. If you will be writing on the shirt with any type of fabric paint, do so after you have applied the patches unless your design requires that the patches cover part of your writing.

5. Allow the shirt to dry. You should leave your shirt in place for at least 24 hours. Keep it warm and dry, and do not move it from the work area until you are certain that all the pieces are firmly fixed. Once everything is dry, you can move your shirt.

6. Apply your design elements to the other side of the shirt. Usually this will be the front. Your small "logo" patch will go on the front in the same location as Polo brand's horseman. This will likely be the only design element on the front of your shirt.

7. Allow the shirt to dry again. Wait at least 24 hours before wearing it. Check the shirt in the mirror before you leave to make sure that all of your design facets look like you wanted them to, then head out to enjoy all the admiring glances for your custom polo shirt creation.

Tips & Warnings

• If your polo shirt has a design, you might want to accent that design or make your personal touches interact and supplement the look of the original design.

• You will need to wash your polo shirt by itself in cold water or on a gentle cycle so that your design elements do not fall off over time.

Resources

• Get custom embroidery on polo shirts here.
• Design your own Polo brand shirt here.