Tackle twill football jerseys for four trading-card brands

What the clients asked for

Four small trading-card and collectibles businesses in the US wanted a football jersey as brand merchandise: something that reads as a real game jersey in a product photo and on a customer, with their own wordmark across the chest, a name plate on the back, and a number each brand chose for itself. Each brand had its own colors: black with white, navy with white, and two white colorways with black.

What the factory did

We built all four on one pattern so a single fit sample could be approved for everyone, then changed only fabric colors and artwork per brand. The bodies are pro-mesh with dazzle tricot yokes and sleeves, the sleeve stripes are sewn in rather than printed, and the numbers are two-layer tackle twill with a contrast border so they stand off the mesh. The wordmarks ran between 6,000 and 11,000 stitches, so each was embroidered on a twill plate first and the plate sewn to the jersey, which keeps the mesh flat. The collar crests sit on a backing patch inside the rib for the same reason.

The first finished jersey was photographed on day 11 after artwork sign-off. After approval the four runs went through cutting, twill application, embroidery, assembly and AQL 2.5 inspection together, every piece checked against the size, number and name list and photographed, then labeled, polybagged and shipped in week 5 by express courier with duties paid.