Kristin Juszczyk had been “sewing a lot” that Halloween.
Looking to recreate Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s iconic all-denim look from the 2001 American Music Awards 17 years later, the process reinvigorated Kristin’s passion for sewing as she crafted Halloween costumes to wear with her husband, 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
She’s gone from dressing like a megastar to A-Listers wearing her pieces — with both Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and die-hard Lions fan Taylor Lautner wearing her NFL-themed ensembles this past wild-card playoff weekend.
Kristin, who had grown weary of “wearing the same old T-shirt and the same jersey to every game” around Juszczyk’s fifth year in the league in 2017, began looking at YouTube videos and gathering ideas of what she could potentially make for game days.
“I started with sweatpants because that’s kind of the easiest thing to make, very beginner-friendly. And then it all kind of just transpired from there,” she said.
“Once I made those sweatpants, I just learned how much I love sewing and I love creating and it’s so rewarding and it became a later-in-life passion of mine. And now, I love the challenge of being able to come up with something different each week.”
Kyle Juszczyk/Instagram
From a corset top made from a football to transforming NFL jerseys into puffer vests and jackets, Kristin’s sewing evolution has continued to captivate the league, with famed Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, amongst some of her most notable clients.
Kristin added a certain pop superstar to her growing list of fans Saturday when Swift arrived at Arrowhead Stadium wearing a custom No. 87 jacket in honor of Kelce for Kansas City’s 26-7 wild-card win over the Miami Dolphins.
“Reworking jerseys” has been a focus of Kristin’s this season, as she’s crafted puffer vests stemmed from the jerseys of Biles’ husband, Packers safety Jonathan Owens, and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
“Everyone wants to represent their favorite player and on those cold games, you’re wearing a big jacket that’s covering your jersey,” said Kristin, who typically jots her design ideas into a notebook.
“How can you represent your favorite player in winter gear so you’re not covering up that jersey? You see a lot of guys wear their jerseys over sweatshirts, but they just get so big and bulky.”
The puffer vest provides styling flexibility, as Kristin noted, “There’s so many different ways you can wear a puffer vest, you can layer it in so many different ways with sweatshirts or jackets underneath or sweaters,” much like 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel did with his Purdy design.
Kristin continues to “push” herself outside of her design comfort zone, even crafting a jacket made from two Aidan Hutchinson Lions jerseys for “Twilight” alum Lautner, who received the piece from FedEx on the field Sunday when the Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years, a 24-23 wild-card victory over the Los Angeles Rams, at Ford Field.
“I would say two years ago I really was just focusing on different types of tops to make. Now I’m just trying to broaden my skill set by making jackets and pants and skirts and all different types of garments,” she said.
With the 49ers’ divisional-round playoff date against the Green Bay Packers set for Saturday, Kristin — who grew up in New York and has been married to Juszczyk since 2019 — has “a lot of things in the works” when it comes to postseason looks.
“It’s always hard because you want to save your best designs for the most important games, but you also can’t bank on that you’re going to be in those important games, so that’s always kind of difficult just strategy-wise on what I want to put out there. So I don’t want to save those really good designs and then, God forbid, we’re not in those games, which I believe that we will be. I’m very confident in our team,” Kristin said.
“I definitely have a lot of things in the works I’m very excited about, and I think people are going to be really excited to see the playoff designs for sure.”
Kristin Juszczyk/Instagram
The NFC’s top seed, the 49ers (12-5) reached the NFC Championship Game last year before falling to the Philadelphia Eagles in what was Juszczyk’s 10th NFL season and sixth in San Francisco after beginning his career in 2013 with the Baltimore Ravens.
As for what’s next for Kristin beyond the playoffs, she’s hopeful to build her passion into something greater.
“It’s such a fun outlet to be able to support my husband while also being creative in my own sense. And I’m hoping, possibly, to grow a business from all of this one day, and to actually get stuff out for fans all over with every NFL team so they don’t have to wear the same plain T-shirt and jersey, just like how I didn’t want to either,’” she said.
The 49ers will host the Packers in a divisional-round showdown on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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