How to Create an NBA Jersey

Many people love wearing NBA basketball jerseys, especially at games. But these jerseys can get expensive. You can create a homemade replica jersey of your favorite NBA team, provided you have some experience with screen printing or sewing. Once you have a blank, cheaper jersey that is similar to your team's look, create the letters and numbers for the jersey yourself with the right colors of fabric or ink.

Things You'll Need

• Basketball jersey
• Paper
• Scissors
• Printing screen
• Printing ink
• Brush/rubber printing block or felt/tackle twill
• Sewing machine

Instructions

1. Locate and purchase a blank basketball jersey from a local store or a large catalog shop such as Eastbay. Check the color and style of your NBA team and get a jersey that is similar.

2. Draw or print copies of the name lettering for your team. If you have a T-shirt with the lettering, you can make photocopies of it. Or find an online picture of a jersey, then enlarge and print it. You need at least two copies of the lettering.

3. Cut out the lettering of the printouts to make two stencils. You're making two because there usually are two color layers of fabric on the letters. In the first stencil, the whole letters are cut out for the bottom "border" layer. For the second one, remove only the top "middle" layer.

4. Screen print the letters onto the jersey if you want to use ink. Place the first stencil on the front of the jersey, insert a thick cloth inside the jersey to catch excess ink, place a mesh printing screen over the stencil and apply the "border" color with a brush or printing block. Once that color dries, repeat with the second stencil and middle color.

5. Create the letters from fabric and sew them onto the jersey if you prefer that method, using the stencil to cut out the letters. Use a felt pen and trace the letters with the stencil facing backward so there will be no marks when you flip them over. Tackle twill is the actual uniform fabric used, but felt or something else can also work.

6. Repeat the lettering process to create the jersey numbers--these can be the numbers of a current player or your own number. If you add a player name on the back, those letters often use only one color.