Jersey forms

bobtnailer

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Posts
215
Location
Sulphur Springs, TX
Howdy, y'all!

We've only mounted a few jerseys over the years...not enough to consider myself having "arrived" at it.

There have only been a couple of them that needed to be stretched over a form, and the rest have hung relatively loose. For the jerseys that needed to be stretched flat, I hand-cut foam core to fit the individual jerseys. That took a good deal of trial and error, and I had to recut my first one several times to get it to fit just right.

Is there a better way to make these? I hate to reinvent the wheel, and I have to believe that I'm doing it the hardest way possible.

Any helpful tips for a rookie?


Thanks in advance!

Cody
 
Nope!

I did quite a few and there is really no "one size fits all" quick and easy way to do them. Stretching them over a form is the best way to ensure they don't hang badly after a few months/years of gravity working on them.

The only people who can mount these pesky things quickly are either those who do an awful lot of them or those who don't much care about the finished result.
 
I hardly ever give framing advice since i didn't do the framing. But, i'll share this much. We did a ton of jersey, around 300 a year. I had a P/T lady that did all the stretching and on a Basketball jersey it literally took about 3-4 minutes
First, lay jersey down and pull sides as far as is easy. Imagine it's 27''. Cut FC that width and jam it into jersey. Mark the bottom, pull down neck about an inch and mark the contour. Do the same for arm openings. Pull insert out and trim excess and reinsert FC
On pro jerseys that are fitted like an hour glass, the trim is pretty much visual. Use EZ attach to gather any excess
We were fortunate to have several pro-teams, 2 colleges and a bunch of juco's that we developed super contacts
MUST DO TIP
Go buy several replica jerseys from teams of local interest and frame them showing different techniques like straight float, square mats and torso outline mats. Be sure and buy kids size or small adult; cheaper to frame and less wall space. You just need to show 'you're in the biz'. You will be amazed at how many times you will hear 'I didn't know you could frame jerseys'. One attention getter was Pat Tilman ASU jersey framed to the nines; he was a local favorite that gave up an NFL career to enlist in the Army right after 9-11 and was KIA about a year later. The key is to get a conversation started
Once you show your talent find local charities auctions and comp a jersey framing. Great way to get your name out there in front of people we referred to as a 'target rich environment'.
Fun Fact
When NHL Coyotes were new, Wayne Gretzky was a partner. We had a relationship and they had a preseason season ticket sale offering a signed Gretzky jersey with a prepaid season ticket purchase. We got them to include a nicely printed card offering a great priced framing package. I know we framed at least 100 but since we showed several examples very few took the straight float special. Folks that plunk down $4-5000 a seat are 'our kind of target clientele'
you gotta show 'em to sell 'em
 
Howdy, y'all!

We've only mounted a few jerseys over the years...not enough to consider myself having "arrived" at it.

There have only been a couple of them that needed to be stretched over a form, and the rest have hung relatively loose. For the jerseys that needed to be stretched flat, I hand-cut foam core to fit the individual jerseys. That took a good deal of trial and error, and I had to recut my first one several times to get it to fit just right.

Is there a better way to make these? I hate to reinvent the wheel, and I have to believe that I'm doing it the hardest way possible.

Any helpful tips for a rookie?


Thanks in advance!

Cody
Similar experience here Bob. I only do 1 or 2 a year, if that.
I have also scoured the G for tips. Always comes back to "practice, practice, practice".

It seems the consensus is that you are doing it right. Make the forms as needed for each project.
I agree it is a PIA, and would be nice to do some of the work faster.

I suppose if one were to create templates from a variety of different jersey's, then you might save some time cutting the forms out of foam board.
But that would require a lot of prep work, buying many different jerseys to create the templates from.
And there are so many types and sizes of jerseys that you would have to have a cabinet dedicated to storing templates you may not ever use.
If one were to get a project for doing a set of the same size and type of jersey, them maybe making a form template might make sense?

If you come up with an idea, share with the rest of us.
 
We frame a lot of jerseys...
Usually they are floated, shadow boxed with a form inside that we make.
When I make a FomeCor form, I lay the jersey on a piece of FomeCor and run a pencil around the outside of the jersey.
Then I cut the FomeCor freehand but I cut it larger than the pencil outline so the jersey has to be stretched over the form.
Stitched down and/or Attache EZ if the tabs can be hidden.

This was a group that we did a little differently recently using the Wizard to create shaped double mats..
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We frame a lot of jerseys...
Usually they are floated, shadow boxed with a form inside that we make.
When I make a FomeCor form, I lay the jersey on a piece of FomeCor and run a pencil around the outside of the jersey.
Then I cut the FomeCor freehand but I cut it larger than the pencil outline so the jersey has to be stretched over the form.
Stitched down and/or Attache EZ if the tabs can be hidden.

This was a group that we did a little differently recently using the Wizard to create shaped double mats..
View attachment 35706View attachment 35707View attachment 35708
Those are amazing!!!
 
I start with a 22x35 board for my jerseys.
 

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Hey Neil, maybe you can answer a question for me. I notice the openings on the mats are slightly smaller than the jerseys so the outline of the jersey is defined by the mats. I have had customers who want the jersey floating on a background with some space between the jersey and the mat with the mat following the outline of the jersey so that the shape of the mat opening is determined by the outline of the jersey which isn't always symmetrical. Any hints as to how to pull that off?
 
Hey Neil, maybe you can answer a question for me. I notice the openings on the mats are slightly smaller than the jerseys so the outline of the jersey is defined by the mats. I have had customers who want the jersey floating on a background with some space between the jersey and the mat with the mat following the outline of the jersey so that the shape of the mat opening is determined by the outline of the jersey which isn't always symmetrical. Any hints as to how to pull that off?
The ones that I posted with the mats on top are the only ones we've done like that just for that order.
All of the tons of other jerseys we've done were always floated and top mounted on mats, suede, linen or just plain mats.

You would have to make an outline of the jersey and then draw the outline on the CMC with a reveal around the jersey.
You can try to stretch the jersey around a form to make it symmetrical and then go from there.
We have a Wizard 9000 and it might take a few trial runs on scrap mats to get it just right.

My boss drew the faces of his kids when they were little and cut them with mats on the CMC.
(my available pictures are not the best)
If you can draw it on the CMC, it will cut it.
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... I have had customers who want the jersey floating on a background with some space between the jersey and the mat with the mat following the outline of the jersey so that the shape of the mat opening is determined by the outline of the jersey which isn't always symmetrical. Any hints as to how to pull that off?
When I've needed to do that, here's my procedure:
1. Mount the jersey to its backing board by sewing or nylon tagging, usually with a filler/support of 4-ply board trimmed to fit.

2. Photograph the mounted jersey, being careful to get a straight-on (not skewed) image.

3. Import the photographed image into your CMC software, scale it to the proper dimensions for whatever margins you want around the jersey's perimeter and then cut it.

This method saves a lot of trial-and-error cutting on scrap boards to get the shape just right.

Before the CMC, I would make a Kraft paper tracing of the mounted jersey and cut it out by hand, using a Dexter or other hand-held mat cutting tool. If you're good at maintaining the proper bevel angle, you can do it with a #11 X-Acto knife. But today, if I didn't have a CMC, I would probably ask a supplier or framing friend that does have one to do it for me.
 
Before the CMC,
OMG, JIM. BE CAREFUL There probably are some out there that have no idea when that was
we bought the first one's in AZ and i had a framer flat out refuse to use it for several months
Back to jerseys, Jim. Did you show any as samples in your store? It's really important as i'll bet there are a lot more jerseys out there than baby Christening dresses ;)

you gotta show 'em to sell 'em
 
As a matter of fact, yes. We usually had one or two awaiting pickup, but I built a few for demonstration purposes, such as this OSU jersey that opens/recloses for easy removal & wearing. We cut a lot of team logos on the CMC, too.

One of my specialties was the "Easy Open Jersey Frame" ready made in a couple of sizes. It was a Slider frame design to open/reclose without hardware, plus a background mat of any color, plus a PVC hanger fixed to the top of the frame by 3M Dual Lock Heavy Duty fastener. That way, customers could buy a $175 frame and install their own jersey.

Also, here are a few customer projects we've had permission to photograph...
 

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All the Jersey displays in this thread are amazing!
I would love to provide that level of a professional display.
One more technique for me to strive for.

Jim, I had a customer ask me the other day about building a Jersey box they could open.
I noticed the #13 Jersey seems to have a removable front, is it held together by friction, magnets, or something else?
I like that idea better than a hinged front.
 
I see your examples are all 'non-form fit? Over the years, when i asked 'form or loose, framers battled over that like 'boxers vs briefs' swearing that choice is what their clients preferred. We showed both examples and choice was overwhelming 'form over loose'. I always thought it wiser to offer options.
what was your most 'fun' sports project?
 
I noticed the #13 Jersey seems to have a removable front, is it held together by friction, magnets, or something else?
I like that idea better than a hinged front.
It's a Slider frame, consisting of two frames, actually. The inner frame is securely attached to the wall and contains the backing board & mounting provisions. The outer frame slides over it and contains the glazing. It just lifts off - no hinges, latches, magnets, or other hardware is necessary. If you have the shadowbox book, it's in there.
I see your examples are all 'non-form fit?
Most of my jersey framing includes a 4-ply matboard filler/support, which serves to shape the jersey and gives the stitches/nylon tags something to attach to.
 
nylon tags something to attach to.
Jim-i have to share a cute story about 'tags'
At one of the shows, Vivian politely (well, for Vivian) took me aside about jersey framing and chided me about 'tags', going into detail about the exact type of needle and why it was important for the fabric etc (right out of page 38 in her book). I smiled and said 95% of the jerseys we did were polyester-type mostly replica, but we did exactly the same for the others as well. And in my typical wise guy comeback, I said 'you know, just like they use on those high priced designer gowns?'
She glared just like the school marm putting an unruly student in his place (trust me, I know that look) and said 'why in the world would I know that'?
She was a peach
Boy, there were so many really great people like Wm Parker, Nona, Fran, John Pruitt, McCurry, You and many i can't remember. I hope there are some to fill those shoes
Thanks for the indulgence
 
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