Grabbing Materials
First thing – I dug through my fabric stash like a squirrel hunting nuts. Found white polyester blend for the base, leftover purple scraps from last Halloween costume, plus some black trim I yanked off an old jacket. Raided JoAnn Fabrics for heat-transfer vinyl in Rockies silver and dark blue since my printer’s ink sucks for fabrics.
Pattern Mess-Up
Tried tracing an actual Rockies jersey with butcher paper – total fail. The shoulder seams looked like crumpled tinfoil when I pinned it. Ended up modifying a basic tee pattern from Simplicity 1234 instead. Cut the sleeves shorter for that raglan look and slashed the neckline wider.
Vinyl Disaster
Printed the “CR” mountain logo on silver vinyl. Peeled too fast after ironing – half the letters stuck to the backing paper. Had to recut the whole damn thing. Second try: let it cool FULLY before peeling. Turned out crisp but crooked. Fixed it by heat-pressing again with my ruler as a guide. Sweat dripping down my neck this whole time.
Sewing Tantrums
My Singer machine hated the thick sleeve seams. Broke three needles. Finally switched to denim needle size 100 and went snail-speed. Pro tip: hold fabric TIGHT when stitching over vinyl edges. For the buttons? Screw real baseball buttons – used snaps instead. Hammers terrify me after that IKEA shelf incident last March.
Trimming & Final Nightmare
Added black rib knit to collar and sleeves. Stretched it too much while sewing – wavy like ocean. Unpicked stitches until 2am with seam ripper. Re-did it while watching Netflix without stretching. Still puckered a little but whatever. Ironed the whole thing on cotton setting. Smelled like hot plastic for hours.
Final result? Looks like a thrift store reject but I made it. Wore it grocery shopping. Cashier asked if I played minor league. Almost cried laughing.
- Heat-transfer vinyl needs COLD peel always
- Thick seams = slow sewing + heavy duty needles
- Snaps > buttons for impatient humans
- Stretchy trim = light touch required