How to frame a jersey, step by step
Framing a jersey properly takes three things: a shadow box deep enough that the glazing never touches the fabric, mounting from behind that can be undone, and a mat lined to its colors. A print is a flat thing going into a flat space. A jersey is not. It has shoulders, a collar, a number that has to read straight, and a weight that will pull it out of shape over a few years if nothing is holding it.
Depth first
A shadow box is a frame with a box behind it, deep enough that the glazing never touches the fabric. That gap is the whole point. Fabric pressed against glass marks, and the mark does not come out.
Then the mounting
The part nobody sees is the part that takes the time. The jersey has to be supported from behind so that it keeps its shape and the number stays where you put it, and it has to be done in a way that can be undone. Gluing memorabilia down can permanently alter it.
Then the mat
Mats get lined to the object rather than to the room. A navy and gold jersey gets a navy and gold fillet, and suddenly the frame is reading the same colors the shirt is.
Why you have to bring it in
An in-person design consultation is required for framing three-dimensional objects. Not as a policy for its own sake: the depth of the box, the way the sleeves fall and how the piece will hang are all decided with the object itself on the counter. A photograph cannot tell you how thick a jersey is.
The same goes for anything with a third dimension. Christening gowns, sea fans, pennants, a pair of boxing gloves, a set of swim fins that came off a rack in the garage.
