PHOENIX — As Shohei Ohtani stood like a statue, seamstress Patsy Elmer carefully measured the long sleeves on his jersey, curating the slim, tailored fit. Although she is used to outfitting some of America’s greatest athletes, she still couldn’t help but be starstruck.
“My initial reaction was, ‘Holy cow, this is today’s version of Babe Ruth that I’m standing in front of,’” Elmer said.
From the living room to the locker rooms of the NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB, Elmer, the founder of Big Time Jerseys has built a reputation as the go-to seamstress for some of the biggest names in professional sports, including Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Freddie Freeman of the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Big Time Jerseys founder Patsy Elmer holds up a vintage Kurt Warner Rams jersey.
Elmer never envisioned working with athletes at the highest level and instead just wanted to sew, but life had other plans.
Eighteen years after opening her Phoenix business, which alters and customizes jerseys for 20-plus teams across the country, including the Dodgers, Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, Cincinnati Reds and San Jose Sharks, it continues to dominate the landscape.
Small town to Big Time
Elmer, who developed the skill of sewing at 9, quickly gained a reputation for her dexterity and soon realized it could become a career. But even as her business began to grow, she was comfortable with life in a small town.
“I was very content with living in Miami (Arizona),” Elmer said. “During the ‘70s and ‘80s, I was raising my children and bearing the title of ‘town seamstress.’ Life became very different in the ‘90s when my children grew up and my marriage ended in a divorce.”
The rapid change led Elmer to close her sewing business, pushing her to move to Phoenix to start a new life. With her previous experience in sewing, she was hired as a production manager for Artcraft Sports Apparel, learning to customize jerseys for teams in the Valley.
“I learned everything I could about customizing jerseys,” Elmer said. “I oversaw the sewing of game jerseys from 1994 to 2008 at Artcraft.”
After leaving Artcraft, Elmer took over her friend's alteration business, a move that was short-lived after she received a call two weeks later from Wayne Gretzky’s brother-in-law, Mike Brown.
“He asked me if I could continue doing Gretzky’s jerseys on my own,” Elmer said. “The task was 1,000 jerseys. I didn’t have the resources or people, but they remained patient.”
In the same time frame, Elmer also received a phone call from Suns equipment manager Jay Gaspar to customize and sew the team's jerseys, prompting Elmer to start her own business.
“This is when Big Time Jerseys was founded,” Elmer said. “Since then, BTJ’s growth has been a result of word-of-mouth advertising.”
Home to headquarters
For 16 years, Elmer operated Big Time Jerseys from her home, making the process much more difficult.
After 28 years of military service, Elmer’s daughter, Christine Collins, retired from the armed forces and joined Big Time Jerseys. Collins became a CEO and as a result of her leadership, helped buy a new building to expand the size of production.
Now, Elmer and Collins own a former church that has been converted to their current headquarters in central Phoenix for their growing business.
A Big Time Jerseys employee stitches a nameplate for a San Jose Sharks jersey on Feb. 5, 2026, in Phoenix.
“I think the turning point for me was when we bought this building,” Elmer said, “We were able to expand the business and get more heat presses, hire a few more people and have more space to house all of our jerseys and equipment.”
Rick Stowe, equipment manager for the Cincinnati Reds since 1981, remembers walking into Elmer’s house and seeing jerseys scattered everywhere.
“I think the only rooms she had to herself was a bathroom, kitchen and her bedroom,” Stowe said. “Everything else was her business.”
Perfect fit for athletes
Not only is a uniform important aesthetically, it impacts performance, as well. Luis Zendejas, former NFL kicker and senior director for community relations for the Cardinals, said athletes need a specific fit to perform at a high level.
“Absolutely, yes,” Zendejas said. “I never wanted the big long shirt tucked in that restricted me from kicking the ball. Every player has tailored jerseys that are comfortable to them.”
Zendejas said Elmer became trustworthy for the Cardinals whenever something needed to be done quickly and correctly.
“If I needed something done right away, she would get it done,” Zendejas said. “Once I leave a jersey with her, I don’t have to worry about it.”
Before working with Big Time Jerseys, the Cardinals sent their uniforms out of state, delaying turnaround times.
“You can’t make things happen like that,” Zendejas said. “You got somebody in town now like Patsy and she can handle it.”
Working with 'today’s version of Babe Ruth'
Outside of customizing for teams, Big Time Jerseys has a client list that works with fans and some of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Elmer’s connection with the aforementioned Dodgers superstars began when MLB needed jersey adjustments during the Cactus League. Nike, searching for a seamstress in Arizona, was referred to her.
“A few years ago, the MLB was having problems with their uniforms,” Elmer said. “They just didn’t fit well and Nike needed someone to head out to the Dodgers’ spring training facility. They needed alterations on a few players, but I had no idea who I was going to meet.”
Elmer’s first assignment was to customize Ohtani’s jersey, and she admits to being in awe when meeting him.
“After my reaction, I did the alteration just like it was anyone else, but it’s just the athlete that’s inside of there that’s extremely special,” she said.
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani watches his home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning in Game 3 of the World Series, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles.
After the first fitting, Ohtani requested that Elmer handle all of his game jerseys for the entire season — including the World Series — where Ohtani’s jerseys were shipped back and forth between Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Freeman left his own impression.
“I still remember Freddie trying on his pants and sticking his arms out and he said, ‘Make me look good,’” Elmer said. “We had a good laugh and I said ‘I promise I will.’”
The process
Behind the scenes, Elmer and her team of 10 manage a meticulous process. Teams ship boxes of blank jerseys — sometimes 25 to 50 — to the shop. For every jersey, the process typically takes 25 minutes, and most of the time, the letters and numbers are already pre-cut as they move from cutting to sewing to pressing.
For Stowe, the process at Big Time Jerseys stood out immediately.
“It’s night and day,” Stowe said. “You could just tell the difference between her patching and sewing compared to everyone else. She nailed it.”
Since then, Elmer has handled everything for the Reds, including last-minute acquisitions.
“That’s another thing that makes her special,” Stowe said. “I’ve driven down to drop off a jersey and asked ‘Is there any way I can get this jersey done by tomorrow?’ and she gets it done no matter what.”
Despite working with some of the best athletes in the world, Elmer remains grounded.
“I’m so grateful,” Elmer said. “It’s a God-given talent that I have the ability to do. To see athletes like Ohtani wear jerseys that I’ve altered specifically to his liking, I think it’s just absolutely wonderful.”
