Like Mike – DIY Deconstructed Jersey

Deconstructed, dismantled clothing is on the uptrend right now and I’ve been wanting to do a DIY deconstructed project for a while. So when a friend came to me wanting to customize a basketball jersey, an idea sparked in my head: how cool would it be to cut two jerseys apart and stitch them back together with contrasting sides. He was stoked about the idea, so we made the vision come to life.

This is a super easy DIY project that only took me about an hour to complete. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Two *identical jerseys Identical is an option if you want them to line up perfectly (like mine). It could be really cool to do it with two completely different jerseys too! Just depends on what you want your end product to look like.
• Scissors
• Measuring tape or ruler
• Sewing machine & essentials (needle, thread, pins, etc). You can hand sew too, it will just take a lot longer.

Start by turning your jerseys inside out and draw a line down the center on the front and the back of each jersey. Use your ruler to make sure your line is in the very center. This is your sewing line. Then, draw a cut line (seam allowance) 1/2 inch out from the sewing line. Cut along the cut line (seam allowance) on both jerseys and you should have 4 separate pieces. Take the two pieces with the seam allowance and pin face sides together, making sure all the logos and trims line up (if you want). Take to the sewing machine and stitch along your sew line! Do this for the front and back and you’re project is complete!!

You will have two slightly smaller jersey halves to make a second jersey. See in the pictures below how the “Jordan” is cut off on my jersey? That’s from the seam allowance of the first jersey. But it still looks dope! I’m so pleased with how the final product turned out!

For this project we used two Michael Jordan All-Star Edition Authentic Jerseys (one white, one black) in size XL. I styled my jersey two different ways to show how it can be worn. For a sporty look, I wore the jersey with simple black distressed jeans from H&M and a pair of Nike Air Huarache City (yes, I should have worn Jordan’s but I don’t own any, whoops). For a trendy, feminine look I wore the jersey as a dress, tied a plaid flannel around my waist and finished the outfit with a pair of black thigh high boots from Boohoo. Daryl is rocking his jersey with these moto zip black distressed jeans from Pacsun and switched between Air Jordan 3 Retros and Air Jordan 1 High Equality. Special thanks to Daryl for buying these jerseys and helping me with the inspiration for this project! I wonder what MJ would think…..

As always, thank you for reading! XOXO