The Framers Forum

I'm curious to know how many of you would prepare a foam core template for a football shirt - where the sleeves are opened outwards.

For a project where the client doesn't want the sleeves opened outwards, I would typically just could a template the torso size without the sleeves, and then feed this through the shirt. But this is no good when you do need to include the sleeves since the template won't fit through.

Do any of you use this method recommended by Lion?:



This is fairly straightforward in that it doesn't require shaping a template to fit into the shirt so much. However, the downside is that both sides are pressed on top of the foam core, risking being able to see back side through the top side of the shirt (more significant when it's a stripy shirt), plus more creases and generally being less taut than when the template is inside the shirt.

You can cut the foamcore template down the middle, not all the way through - just one face. Then bend in half, insert into shirt and reopen inside the shirt. Works a charm. You can add some bits of tape to the template to hold it flat again.

Check out risso cornici’s instagram. He’s a master of the simple framed footy shirt and has a clever way of dealing with the sleeves where a discrete wide slit from the armpit area straight upwards allows much of the excess sleeve fabric to be hidden in the back. Have a browse through his feed and you’ll figure it out.

That method of cutting down the middle sounds like it could be useful. It sounds much more useful to me than cutting out separate pieces for sleeves to stick in after the fact.

And thanks for the heads up about Risso Cornici - I'm now a follower.

Thanks!