NHL DIY: OMFG

[Editor’s Note: Last month I got a note from Bryan Justman (shown at right with his son, Alex Crosby Justman), who said he’d been creating his own old-school hockey sweaters, using blank long-sleeve T-shirts. I asked if he could write a step-by-step guide to how he does this, and he happily obliged. — PL]

By Bryan Justman

I’ve always been into DIY. I learned how to sew in an art class while in fifth grade. I also built kites and learned how to sew the panels of nylon onto the frame.

I put those skills to use while growing up as a punk rock drummer. I’ve sewn patches of my favorite bands onto hoodies, backpacks, shorts, etc. I’m also nuts about hockey. I had many hockey sweaters in my closet that I bought for cheap on eBay with no names/numbers on the back. For example, I had an old Ottawa Senators road sweater that I had planned to send to River City Sports so they could customize it in honor of my favorite underappreciated Senator, Sylvain Turgeon, but it was like $80. So I thought, how hard could it be to do it myself? I found something in the Jo-Ann Fabrics remnant pile called “rubber sheeting,” which would be the white and I used Kunin eco-fiber felt (20 cents) for the red trim.

I liked the results so much, I went on to customize every blank jersey in my closet. I probably spent just about $15 total in materials.

I soon ran out of blank jerseys, but there were so many more that I wanted to have. I had lusted after some of those heritage sweaters, specifically the white Habs and any of the Leafs. I badly wanted a Maurice Richard sweater ever since reading Our Life with the Rocket. Additionally, I wanted Jean Beliveau, Ted Kennedy, and Frank Mahovlich. But those were all way too expensive, plus the weather here in northern California is too mild.

Nashville christmas parade 2008

So instead, I decided to create my own.

I’ve now made four of these, so I’ve established my technique pretty well. When Paul asked me to document the process, I decided to make a 1960s Frank Mahovlich Maple Leafs jersey.

First, my materials: From Wal-Mart, I purchased a long-sleeve T-shirt ($6). At Jo-Ann Fabrics, I bought a hunk of blue twill from the remnant pile ($6), a bottle of white fabric paint ($5), a roll of blue grosgrain ribbon for the stripes ($4), and three sheets of blue felt and one sheet of white for (25 cents each). And at nhluniforms.com, I printed out the Leafs’ uniforms from the early 1960s. I found the Leafs logo online and sized it correctly, along with two block numbers. I printed them out onto cardstock so I could use them as stencils.

I like to start with the shoulder, because it’s the hardest. I measure the length from the shirt’s collar to the shoulder/sleeve seam then trace the yoke shape onto the twill (I folded over the material so the two sides of the yoke would be as even as possible). A protractor is the perfect shape for the yoke’s rounded edge, so I trace that too. Next, I cut out the shape.

After unfolding the doubled-over fabric, I’m left with the entire shoulder-to-shoulder yoke, but I need a hole for the collar. Again, the protractor is perfect for tracing the sh

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