If you’re an avid football player, you know the importance of having the right equipment. One gear that football players from high school and college level up through professional leagues use is custom football cleats.
Which can help improve traction and overall performance. When choosing a pair of custom cleats. It’s essential to make sure they fit perfectly.
Step 1: Choose Your Pattern
Once you’ve picked out your favorite color scheme, it’s time to get specific. Suppose you don’t already have one in mind. Spend some time searching for popular colors used by teams around your area or across all of professional football. You can then find free or inexpensive Photoshop mockups online of those colors and use them as a base design for your cleats.
Unless you plan on selling these custom cleats, you will likely be limited in how many colors you want to use. Adding too many colors will make your designs look messy and unprofessional, even if they are just for practice or playing pick-up games with friends.
Step 2: Measure Twice, Cut Once
Be sure you’re measuring your foot correctly. You’ll need a ruler, a piece of string or yarn, and a marker (chalk works too). We recommend that you use the shoes you currently wear for fit purposes. Alternatively, buy a cheap pair of sneakers from your local department store to test your cleat. To get started with measurement, wrap a piece of string around your ankle and mark where it overlaps on both sides.
Then, measure that length from front to back with a ruler and write down your measurements on paper. Measure each foot three times just in case there are slight variances between feet. These numbers are essential for shoe manufacturing and ensure you have cleats that fit perfectly.
Step 3: Laces & Eyelets
Determine your lace and eyelet options by looking through our available laces, eyelets, and wheel studs. You’ll notice that we offer a variety of lace colors with matching eyelets.
Heel studs are available in standard (1/2) or fat (5/8) sizes and come in silver or gold. These laces & hardware can be ordered on their own or with any customizable cleat for easy ordering.
Step 4: Assemble the Upper
Once you’ve punched out your patterns, cut your fabric. It is where having a few extra pairs of shoes on hand comes in handy. It’s hard to know exactly how much material you need until you have all your pieces laid out once you have a shoe mockup ready.
Trace around it onto one of your pattern pieces and make sure that everything lines up before cutting. The most important thing here is accuracy. Nothing will work right if one part of your cleat doesn’t fit right.
Step 5: Attach the Eyelets
With both sets of laces and eyelets on your football cleat. It’s time to make sure everything fits appropriately. Take one last look at your drawn design. If you’re confident in your creation, attach each set of eyelets. There are two main options here.
The first is to drill a hole through both laces and loop them together by passing a needle and thread through each hole on either side of your foot. The second and probably more straightforward option is to use a specific tool that creates screws for every hole in your design.
Step 6: Sew-On Some Laces
Once you have a good idea of your cleat’s appearance, it’s time to start sewing. It will probably be your most challenging step in terms of sewing knowledge. Because when you’re working with leather. There are different techniques and products used than when working with cotton or other fabrics.
The most important thing is that your stitching is strong enough for football. Making custom football cleats that fit perfectly will be useless if it isn’t up for serious gameplay.
Closing Remarks
Good cleats are one of a football player’s most important pieces of equipment. They affect performance, safety, and comfort. And while store-bought cleats will get you through a season or two of games. They may not be as comfortable or last as long as custom cleats, nor are they as stylish. So, if you’re looking for a better way to outfit your feet on game day, consider having a pair made specifically for you.