DIY Football Jersey – The FIFA World Cup Fever

I might forget football for three years in a row, but come the fourth year and I start living it again!

The biggest football party on the planet is taking place and me and Mr B have caught a serious case of football fever. Obviously there is no chance for Little B to not get infected by the constant football talk in the house.

In fact, Little B is showing more excitement and zeal for World Cup than both of us together. She scans the newspaper each day for colorful jerseys. She asks us to show her Google Doodles and seeks explanation behind the animation. She sees match highlights so keenly as if she is a football pundit. She is even recognizing national flags of half a dozen nations. Who knew football could be educational?

One thing Little B cannot stop talking about is Messi. Of all the football players, Messi is her favorite. I think the reason is firstly, his face appears the most on newspapers and television. Secondly, his name is pretty simple and easy for a toddler to reiterate.

So as it happened, Little B really wanted a football jersey just like Messi’s. Really, really. And we tried our best to get that jersey for her but we couldn’t find the size that would fit a 3 year old.

What I believe in is, If You Can’t Buy It, DIY It. And that’s what I did.

DIY Messi Football Jersey

Things You Would Need

1 old white t-shirt (I DIYed a Messi jersey, so it was basically an Argentina football team jersey with Messi’s name written on it. I started with a white t-shirt. Coordinate your t-shirt’s color with the color of the jersey you wish to make.)

Pencil, eraser and a ruler

Pack of fabric colors (I used pearl finish colors so that I can get a little shine on my jersey)

Paint brushes

How to Go About It

Start by marking your t-shirt according to the country’s jersey you are making. You can check the exact style and color of jersey here at Mashable.

For Argentina jersey, I needed to make vertical stripes on the t-shirt. I made 8 stripes in the following way

 So there are two 1/2 stripes at both ends and 7 equal-sized stripes in between.

Do the same marking at the back.

 Take the desired fabric color and start coloring. Make sure to keep a non-porous board in between the two layers of the t-shirt so that the color doesn’t seeps in from one side to the other.

I diluted my fabric color a little so my color bled a little. So do not dilute the color or if its necessary dilute only so much that it gets wet, don’t make it runny. If you get bleeding spots like I did, just cover them with white fabric color.

First color on just one side and hang it to dry. Once it is dried thoroughly color the other side. Give the jersey a day to dry off further before putting names and numbers on the it.