by ZEKEY DOWNES

Hello! My name is Zekey and I’m a football shirt collector, Norwich City fan, and all-round creative. My love for football came first, then my love for football shirts stemmed from that about 3 years ago. But I’m not here to talk about actual football shirts. I’m here to tell you a bit about these things called Hama bead shirts.

Hama bead shirts are little football shirts made from coloured beads. I’m sure most of you remember them from your childhood, or your child’s childhood. I was reminiscing one day about the things I used to make with Hama beads, and that’s when I thought about the possibility of making mini football shirts! It started off as something to keep me busy, but they became quite popular, so I started taking commissions. I was really surprised by how many people took to them.

The shirts themselves are different shapes and sizes, depending on the detail they all need. This makes it really interesting because every shirt is different. I try to make them all look as close to the real shirts as possible, and believe you me, it’s not always easy! Having done over 30 so far, I’m now fully engulfed in these Hama bead shirts, and they’re great to do if I’ve got a spare hour or so to keep me busy. I’ve made shirts from all sorts of teams; from River Plate to Arsenal, and Carlisle to Inter Milan.

Not many shirts can’t be done, and I hope to make many more in the future! So if you fancy anything yourself, give me a message on Twitter (@knockemdownes) or on Instagram (freshshirtsuk) and we can sort something out!

Zekey