How to Create a Team Shirt
Team shirts for company softball games, touch-football teams and children's sports are a regular sight at sporting events. Many teams choose to have their T-shirts professionally created in mass quantities. However, for small teams with little money, for family sporting events or for just-for-fun shirts, it may be more cost effective to make the shirts yourself. Craft stores offer shirt-making materials--even ones specific to certain sports. Use these inexpensive materials to your advantage.
Things You'll Need
- Plain T-shirt
- Yardstick
- 3- to 4-inch iron-on letters
- Iron
- Word processing or graphics program
- Dark T-shirt transfer paper
- Inkjet printer
- Scissors
- Craft knife
- Team logo
- Cardboard
Instructions
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1
Lay the plain T-shirt front-side down on a hard, flat surface. Place a yardstick horizontally across the T-shirt about 6 inches from the collar. Make sure the yardstick is straight.
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2
Spell out the last name of the team member with the iron-on letters, setting them evenly apart with the bottoms flush against the top of the yardstick. Ensure that the letters are centered on the back of the shirt.
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3
Turn on the iron to the heat setting recommended on the letter packaging. Follow the manufacturer's directions when ironing the letters onto the T-shirt. Iron-on letters come in several types of material, and the iron application will differ between brands. Let the letters cool.
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4
Open a new document in a word processing or graphics program. Select a blocky font that is similar to the iron-on letters. Set the font to between 600 and 700 points in any color. Type in the number of the team member. Each individual number will require its own 8 1/2-by-11 transfer sheet. For example, if the number is 15, put a 1 on one page and a 5 on the other.
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5
Insert the dark T-shirt transfer paper into the paper tray with the transfer side face down or face up, according to the directions on the printer. Also make sure to follow the directions on the transfer paper packaging when printing.
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6
Cut out the numbers with scissors. For the numbers 0, 6, 8 and 9, use a craft knife to cut out the center. Place the numbers beneath the last name, using the yardstick to keep them straight. Place the sheet of wax paper, provided in the transfer paper package, over the numbers.
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7
Iron over the wax paper, pressing down and using long, straight strokes to adhere the numbers into place. Remove the wax paper and let the numbers cool.
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8
Open the team logo in the word processing or graphics program. Print and cut out the logo on the transfer paper in the same manner as in Steps 5 and 6. Slide a piece of cardboard between the front and back of the T-shirt. Flip the shirt over and iron the logo in the upper-right corner or center of the shirt in the same manner as in Step 7.
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Tips & Warnings
To create white letters on dark T-shirt transfer paper, print the outline of a font and cut around the outline. Iron into place.
References
- Photo Credit softball image by Steve Brase from Fotolia.com
