I decided to start decorating shirts a couple years ago, when my son and some of his teammates earned their way to CIF. He was wrestling and it was his first full season, but his second CIF (it’s a long story). The year before, my mom friends and I were impressed that one of the teams had shirts with all the CIF qualifier’s names on them. So, at the end of Junior season, I dove hard into figuring out how they got the shirts done so quickly! It turned out that if you pay enough, you can get a basic shirt pretty quickly, but you either have to pay a LOT to expedite your order, order a LOT of shirts, or you can try to make them yourself. One of the other moms had a heat press and I am pretty good at Photoshop, so we thought we could make them ourselves for less than either of the other two options. And, we were right! The shirts looked great, and we learned a LOT!
My friend learned that she didn’t really enjoy pressing the shirts. I learned that we probably shouldn’t have let everyone bring their own shirts. It was quite a hassle collecting them all and keeping track of whose was which. And, when we had a blooper or two, we had to scramble to try and replace that particular shirt. So, when Senior year came around, I got my own heat press and made shirts all season long! I started with my son’s personalized hoodie, which I had paid someone else to make the year before! It was already peeling in less than a season’s use, so I knew I wanted mine to last longer. Then, when the boys got their spirit packs, they didn’t include a pair of sweatpants, and it was uncharacteristically cold. So, I pulled out my photoshop and designed a logo for the pants and made pairs for the boys that wanted them.
Of course, I made myself a fan shirt or two. Wrestling is a popular sport in some circles but not everywhere, so there wasn’t a lot of gear for wrestling moms available. I made shirts for my friends and moms at other schools. I made hoodies for quite a few boys on my son’s team. And, people started asking me if I could make something for their family cruise, or to give their granddaughter for Christmas. I made Senior Mom shirts and Senior Dad shirts. I was inspired by pictures people sent me and I designed Wrestling Nana shirts and Sister squad shirts. I made custom shirts to cheer on my son, with “Win Eugene Win” on them, and shirts for my friend to wear to cheer on her son, with “Let’s go Jimmy” on them, because that’s what she and her husband yell when he’s wrestling. I geared up the Girl’s Wrestling Team because they didn’t get a spirit pack and I felt like they should have gear to wear.
But, most importantly, I had SO MUCH FUN! I absolutely LOVE making custom gear for people! I love to see their faces when they see the shirts I have made for them! I adore seeing my designs filling the stands as the team gets ready to compete, and I loved knowing that 28 of my shirts were heading off on a cruise together to celebrate an important birthday! So, when my son graduated, I started designing my fan shirts for his next team, and opened this website so I can keep making custom fan gear for anyone who wants me to make it for them!
If you have a deadline, I can work super quickly! If you only need one shirt, that’s not a problem! If you want a shirt for everyone on your team with the same design on the front, but their last names on the back, grad years on the sleeve, and weight classes on the other sleeve, that is NO PROBLEM at all!! It doesn’t take any longer and it doesn’t cost any more! If you want a stadium blanket with a different design on each corner, I can do that! I am here ready to be inspired by you, to inspire you further, and to make your fan gear dreams a super fun reality!
~Sarah