Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Get help and framing advice from the framing community
Post Reply
gavinr
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu 17 Mar, 2022 3:50 pm
Location: gulval
Organisation: Dust & Ink
Interests: screenprinting

Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by gavinr »

I’m looking for some help, advice and examples please.

I’ve been asked if I can frame a signed sports shirt which as I’m just starting out is something I have never done, I did take a good look at the example work pieces on the textile framing stand at the Fine Art Trade Guild weekend that I attended recently but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to quiz the lady who was running that workshop as it was always busy.

Can anyone give me advice on ways to go about this please, point me in the direction of tutorials and videos if there are any, recommend books that cover this technique and post examples of work you have done so I can get some ideas of what is possible and the different ways of presenting the shirt.

Also, the shirt is a modern polyester one and I’m assuming it’s been signed with marker pens so are there any conservation issues I need to consider, primarily to prevent fading but also for materials used in mounting and any needlework required?
User avatar
Steve N
Posts: 2992
Joined: Sat 21 Jul, 2007 2:32 pm
Location: Somewhere Staple Hill Bristol
Organisation: Frontier Picture Frames ltd
Interests: Walking our retired Greyhound,art, falling asleep on sofa in front of the telly
Location: Now in Bristol
Contact:

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Steve N »

Hi
Framing sports shirts can be quite complex to some, it's a 'top dollar' everyday framing job, the first place to look is on here the forum, use the search facility , I just typed in 'Sports Shirt Framing' bring up a long list of threads regarding this, here is one of the top ones
https://www.theframersforum.com/viewtop ... ng#p137162

I have even posted to that tread, I do a 'DIY' version, one of the easier methods to do, the customer can put the shirt in themselves, so I just supply the frame for around £100.00 or I can pop it in for them for an extra £30.00

One thing you nee to do is keep the glass off the shirt it it's been signed with marker pens, as the glass gets condensation on the inside surface , so you don't want that touching the ink, it might run!

When I do a Full Custom job, showing all the shirt, with a former inside of the shirt , my starting price is £200.00
Steve CEO GCF (020)
Believed in Time Travel since 2035

Proud to sell Ready Made Frames
http://www.frontierpictureframes.com
http://www.designerpicturemounts.com/
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Not your average framer »

It's really hard to do a decent job, when framing a shirt if you cannot charge enough. Before the lockdown came along, I was charging £150 and that was mostly because most customers for football shirt framing around where I am based are really reluctant to even pay that much. To be honest at £150, I have to limit what they are getting for the money, otherwise it is quite difficult to make a worthwhile profit margin at all. It is a fact that if you are going to produce anything of that size which is going to look stunning, then the material cost is not going to be cheap!

Also don't forget that your hourly labour rate needs to be set at a realistic level. In the same amount of time you are spending framing a sports shirt, you can often be framing several other items and if you are not charging enough for framing the sports shirt, then you are better off sticking to the other more straight forward jobs, because you will make much more profit. For my basic price of £150, this only includes a half sheet of mountboard at the rear. I produce a front frame and a separate tray section for the back, so that I can assemble everything into the tray and load the tray and the glass into the front frame.

If i am required to include a front mount, I like to make the box section a bit more substantial so as to support the mount and prevent the risk of an unsupported mount not staying nice and flat. Although I produce plenty of other jobs using handfinished frames, I don't do this for sports shirt frames as it does not make financial sense to do so. You are much better off doing it with factory finished mouldings and this will save you lots of time and preserve your profit margins for you as well. I don't really care if I don't get any sports shirt framing jobs at all. Unless the customers in your area are willing to pay a sensible price it will be very hard to produce a stunning result.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Not your average framer »

I am not greatly keen to take on much work framing either sports shirts, or full size Ordinance survey maps, but involve quite a bit of work and prospective customers keep trying to tell you that the don't want to pay that much to get the job done! There a lot of fiddling about getting sports shirts to look right and to be truthful, I do not enjoy doing them very much anyway!

Full size Ordinance survey maps have almost always been rolled into cardboard tube for postage and are printed on really thin paper and don't really stay flat unless you dry mount them onto something really solid and flat. Customers are not very keen on paying about £50 just for the dry mounting and moan about the map only costing a tenner. Customers like to see these framed in a skinny moulding and I often end up choicing a deeper frame, so that there is room for adding a sub frame.

At my age, I like to think that I can pick and choose what sort of jobs I want to do and which I don't want to do.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
gavinr
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu 17 Mar, 2022 3:50 pm
Location: gulval
Organisation: Dust & Ink
Interests: screenprinting

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by gavinr »

Perhaps I should add that a friend has asked me if I can do this and my interest is solely to use it as a project to learn from, not as a way to make any money.
User avatar
Steve N
Posts: 2992
Joined: Sat 21 Jul, 2007 2:32 pm
Location: Somewhere Staple Hill Bristol
Organisation: Frontier Picture Frames ltd
Interests: Walking our retired Greyhound,art, falling asleep on sofa in front of the telly
Location: Now in Bristol
Contact:

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Steve N »

Good way to learn, doing for friends & family, and also as samples for your shop/workshop
Steve CEO GCF (020)
Believed in Time Travel since 2035

Proud to sell Ready Made Frames
http://www.frontierpictureframes.com
http://www.designerpicturemounts.com/
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Not your average framer »

It's not uncommon when doing framing for friends, that they will recommend you to their friends and as a result you may get more work from referals. Do a good job for these people and it can be a good way to get future work and it might just be really helpful to you as a good way of building your business. I've always gained a lot of work as a result of the same thing through word of mouth and that's how I got started.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
girlfromkent
Posts: 130
Joined: Tue 29 Oct, 2019 9:02 pm
Location: Kent
Organisation: None
Interests: Printmaking & ceramics

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by girlfromkent »

Hello all

I've done a fair few sports shirts now but they are few and far between so I find myself having to remember how to do it every time.

My usual approach is foam insert, a bit of sewing, a bit of tag gun to attach to the mountboard. No nasty tape or glue. What I'm wondering is, how do people tend to secure the bottom of the shirt to the foam? I've seen a video linked to somewhere here which is pretty good overall but then they go and stick the shirt down with fabric tape. What's the better, conservation friendly way? Is it even necessary?

Cheers,
Megan
Fruitini
Posts: 220
Joined: Fri 19 Oct, 2007 7:17 pm
Location: Devizes, Wiltshire
Organisation: Original Glory
Interests: Digital Art & Photography
Contact:

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Fruitini »

If you make sure the foam insert is a very good fit you don’t really need many attachments. I use a couple of stainless steel dressmakers pins either side of the collar into the side of the foamcore, and also either side at the bottom to hold in place. They are pretty much invisible.
IMG_8042.jpeg
Trinity
Posts: 688
Joined: Wed 06 Jan, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Yorkshire England
Organisation: Trinity Framing
Interests: Classic Tractors, Honda Blackbird, Eunos, anything with an engine
Contact:

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Trinity »

If you're not confident of doing a first class job, say so and turn it down, quite a few Youtube videos and even Lion have one.
The go to Sports Direct and buy a cheap sports shirt and practice the various types, it'll give you the confidence you need.
Do not be afraid of strangers, for thereby many have entertained angels unawares.
User avatar
Tudor Rose
Posts: 1117
Joined: Wed 10 Mar, 2010 4:07 pm
Location: Dawlish, South Devon
Organisation: The Framing Lot
Interests: Tudor history, swimming, walking and needlework.
Contact:

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by Tudor Rose »

Plenty of places offer day courses in framing sport shirts - including myself.
Might be worth looking into that as many of the youtube videos and so on feature products that can cause damage to shirts.
As many of them are valuable due to signatures and so on, it is worth doing them right and getting a reputation for that.

"Fabric tape" or any other type of self adhesive tape on the shirt itself is a big no.
Jo Palmer GCF(APF) Adv
Textile, Mount Design & Function & Conservation


Forum Moderator & Framing Educator
www.pictureframingtraining.com
Guild Certified Examiner & Guild Accredited Trainer
Guild Master from May 2019 to May 2022
User avatar
JKX
Posts: 392
Joined: Sun 08 Jan, 2023 10:25 pm
Location: West Sussex
Organisation: None - retired
Interests: Gardening. Walking. DIY. Retired framer of 20 plus years, keeping my hand in.

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by JKX »

girlfromkent wrote: Thu 01 Feb, 2024 8:22 pm
………What I'm wondering is, how do people tend to secure the bottom of the shirt to the foam? I've seen a video linked to somewhere here which is pretty good overall but then they go and stick the shirt down with fabric tape. What's the better, conservation friendly way? Is it even necessary?

Cheers,
Megan
A method I liked is to position the the shirt on the bottom of the board as shown with its insert (dotted lines); tag it (black dots) close to the bottom of the former, then flip it back on to the board and tag/sew the rest.

IMG_0965.jpeg
As for conservation, if done with stitching or tags, you’ve done something to it, which will show if removed in future.

There are ways to do nothing at all, like simply hanging it with a combined former/hanger, or framing it worn on a mannequin, but then the sharpie signatures will eventually fade anyway, if signed - and if not, maybe the shirt will, they’re not made to be displayed, they’re made to be pretty disposable really.

.
John Turner

The ex framer Formerly Known As RoboFramer.
girlfromkent
Posts: 130
Joined: Tue 29 Oct, 2019 9:02 pm
Location: Kent
Organisation: None
Interests: Printmaking & ceramics

Re: Ways to frame a sports shirt?

Post by girlfromkent »

Thanks John that's a really helpful tip!
Post Reply