Tailoring Jerseys
Collecting jerseys has been something that I’ve really been into as of late. When I find a player or jersey that I’ve been looking for, I tend to act on it quickly. Recently, I stumbled on a discounted Derrick Rose jersey that I simply could not pass up. The condition for its age was good, but what really bummed me out was the size. It was a size XXL so trading for something in my size would be nearly impossible (I wear mediums/larges). For that reason, I looked into tailoring and found out I could alter the jersey. In case you are in a similar situation or just interested in general tailoring, check out the process I used!
Materials used include:
- The jersey that needs to be altered
- A separate jersey that fits you to your liking
- A sewing machine
- Seam ripper
- Pins
- Measuring Tape
Now, let’s get into the actual process:
- First, I went ahead and flipped the jersey inside out. Most of the sewing is done inside out.
2. Once that is done, go ahead and use the seam ripper to open the side of the jersey that has the tags (the right side). This is so that you can resew them on the tailored version of the jersey without damaging them.
3. Now that you have one side open and the tags are removed, go ahead and lay the better fitting jersey over the jersey you wish to tailor. This will give you a sense of how much to take off. This is subjective but a good tip is to remove slightly less if you are unsure as you can always remove more. You CANNOT, however, add more, so be mindful of this when tailoring.
4. Place your pins so that the new stitch will run over these pins. Obviously when you are sewing with the machine you will want to remove the pins. In the case that you are new to sewing, what I used to do, and still sometimes do, is use sewing chalk. This helps outline a straight line you can follow when sewing with the machine. In essence, it serves as a guide.
5. After you have sewn one side, I would flip it inside out and see that what you did is accurate to your end goal. If not, you can use the seam ripper to take off the stitch you created and sew it once again. On some garments, the holes created for the stitch will show on the garment so be mindful of this. In this case, it looked perfect and fit great so I took a pair of scissors and cut the excess, folded material inside. Try not to cut too close to the created stitch as it can cause the jersey to start and open up over time.
6. Now that both sides have been drastically reduced to your liking (in this case, I took off 3 inches from each side), it is time to re-attach the tags to give the jersey that complete look. In this case, I did not hem the jersey but if that is something you need to do be sure to do that before positioning and sewing the patches back on.
7. After you have completed sewing everything, the last step is to snip any loose strings. You should now have a jersey that is tailored to your fitting!
