Have you ever wanted to know how to frame a jersey? You’ve probably seen quite a few football jersey frames: adorning the walls of friend’s houses, on display at sporting clubs, or perhaps at a charity auction. Maybe you’ve even had a peek online to see if you could purchase a jersey ready-framed.
If you’re a sports enthusiast, getting a signed jersey can be a real coup! But the next step might be a little bit confusing if you’ve never done it before. Yes, we’re talking about framing your jersey.
An experienced picture framer will tell you there are endless ways to frame a jersey.
First things first: Do you want to keep it simple and let the colours of your jersey shine? Or do you want to incorporate your team colours into the frame design? Your experienced picture framer can help you create a beautiful design, whatever you choose!
Another thing to consider is whether you have any extra bits and pieces you’d like to frame alongside the jersey. Maybe a ticket to an exciting game, or photographs of yourself with your sporting hero. You can choose to keep all of your memorabilia together in a single frame, but if not, you might want to consider framing all of your memorabilia in matching frames to create a fantastic display on your wall.
How the professionals do it
First of all, your jersey needs to be stretched. Stretching is what makes your jersey look flat in the finished frame, with no wrinkles. It’s not as tricky as it might seem, it just takes a little practice. For those of you trying it at home, here’s a rough guide to the process:
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First, stretch the jersey out and measure the width when fully stretched.
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Measure the length of the jersey from the top of the collar to the hem.
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Cut out a rectangular piece of 5mm thick foamcore (supplied) to your width and height measurements.
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Now place your foamcore rectangle behind your jersey. Trace around the shoulder and sleeve on one side. Using a sharp blade, cut where you have traced. Do it in one or two pieces if you can – because you’re about to reuse them!
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Using your cut out pieces, trace around them on the opposite side. We do this so we don’t end up with a lopsided jersey!
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Finally, fit your jersey around your piece of foamcore. Trace around the inside of the collar. Take the jersey off again and cut out the neck opening.
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Put the jumper back on. It should be nicely stretched out – well done!
After stretching your jersey, it needs to be pinned to a backing board. The backing board should be a colour that complements the jersey and helps it to stand out. Sometimes a framer will use other colours of matboard to “frame” the jersey. Matboard can look really striking when team colours are used – so whether you’re a red and black kind of fan, or yellow and brown (you know what I’m talking about!), imagine your jersey framed by these colours – it will look truly incredible!
Football jersey framing at Frames Now
Frames Now offer a line of ready-made sporting kit frames in two sizes: 100 x 70cm or 71.1 x 56cm. These are designed to have differently sized jerseys fit inside them, and are a perfect choice if you’d like to have a go at fitting your jersey into a frame yourself. Alternately, these sporting kit frames can be purchased, and your jersey professionally fitted for an additional fee.
If you really want to go all out, a custom frame for your football jersey can you look amazing, and an experienced framing professional can help you with your choice of frame and colour scheme.
Professionally fitted jerseys from Frames Now come with an unconditional ten-year guarantee, so you can rest easy knowing your favourite jersey will always look fabulous!