I'd Like To Design My Own Cycling Shorts & Jersey

[berryred101]

Has anyone ever done this before or know of a good source that's reasonable in cost? I'm a graphic artist and would like to design some shorts and jerseys for my team's next event. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Natasha]

Here is a link to a women's site who makes her own cycling clothing.
http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/tips/pgallery.asp

[berryred101]

Thank you! I think I'd prefer to provide the gaphic design to a manufacturer (i.e., Pearl Izumi, or whomever, etc.) instead of sewing for myself or others.

Appreciate the link with resources!

[Possegal]

yes, I have done it for my "team" (use the term losely) for the livestrong challenge. If you click in my signature on the "why I ride link" you can see some pics of the shirts and shorts. There is another thread somewhere that I will edit a link into once I find it, where others had people they had used, and I put down who I used.

And I provided the design, with my graphic artist niece doing the majority of the artwork. The band down the leg of the shorts and down the side of the jersey, the company did for me at a fee. Doing your own graphics would cut down on that price. I thought ours were reasonable, but the thread I'm going to go look for, looked like there were other places maybe cheaper. I guess I didn't do an exhaustive enough search last year, and I hadn't found this site yet. But I have to say, I am thrilled with our shirts and shorts and I thought the company was outstanding!

ok, here is the thread.
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=21528

[SadieKate]

Google custom jerseys and then search on this forum for the same. Jersey companies vary widely in the minimum numbers they will produce.

Voler and Champ-Sys are two companies you may want to research.

[Eden]

How many pieces do you think that you'll want to make? There are quite a few places out there that will make custom kit for you. Most of them have some minimums for your order, but they tend to work it in different ways. Some do it by the piece, so if you order jerseys and vests you have to have at least 5 jerseys and 5 vests. Some do it by type of piece (bottoms, tops, etc), so you have to order 5, but you could say get 3 jerseys and 2 vests.

Champion is pretty liberal about minimums and I've heard their stuff is nice
http://www.champ-sys.com/pages/index.html - but there are others other there, so shop around

We use Canari on our team - I love their stuff, its really sewn to fit women! www.canari.com
My husbands team uses Capo Forma www.uplandsg.com/capoforma
Lots of teams like Voler www.voler.com
and it seems like there are dozens of smaller companies out there these days - pick up a cycling magazine (like Bicycling) and you'll see lots of ads or search the web

Most of the bigger places at least, will have templates to download for designing - I think the one I looked at was made for Adobe Illustrator

If you just want to do one of two pieces I think I've heard about copy centers having some type of either sublimation or iron on material that will work on jerseys.

[berryred101]

You guys are awesome and SO helpful! I can't thank you enough for your quick and informative replys.

Thanks!

[Tuckervill]

I want someone to make a jersey that says on the back:

<---PLEASE ALLOW 3 FEET--->

It only has to say that on the tail, across the pockets. The rest of the jersey can be as beautiful as any.

And one that says:

Thank you for your patience!

I want that in big bold letters.

I'm not graphically inclined, or I'd make one.

Karen

[Eden]

I want someone to make a jersey that says on the back:

<---PLEASE ALLOW 3 FEET--->

It only has to say that on the tail, across the pockets. The rest of the jersey can be as beautiful as any.

And one that says:

Thank you for your patience!

I want that in big bold letters.

I'm not graphically inclined, or I'd make one.

Karen

I think cafepress might have cycling jersys now - if there really is some interest I'd be willing to design a jersey/ messenger bag (I know they have those) Tee-shirt etc to put up there, if there isn't already one.

[Tokie]

My friend's team went with Champion - the quality wasn't as good as Voler (seams on shorts came unsewn when very new!). Capoforma stuff is very nice, might be pricey though. Tokie

[Eden]

Cafepress doesn't have a cycling jersey at this point - but I did email them and ask if they'd consider it. I'd design some and put them up. I think it would not only be good for general sales (there's lots of bike related items already there), but would also fill a niche for people who are looking to do really limited runs of semi-custom jerseys.

[Tuckervill]

If you make them, I'll buy them!

Karen