Originally Posted by Lori S

This really depends on the manufacture , how you want it to look, how much peicing you put on the front( the piecing takes up some of the width and the give in the sweatshirt) , and how if you cut the sides and re- seam after the peicing. I find they look better when the front opening just comes together without too much over lap.
Jerzees is very generous in there sizing, and almost no shrinkage. Take tape measure to see just how big the shirt is, and subtract your seams. If you are taking a 1/2 inch then subtract 2 inches from the shirt measurement and that will be how wide the finished shirt will be. Some make them a bit bigger( or compensating for the seams) by adding a more to the front in the way of button bands the lenght of the shirt. or a wide binding that does not use the sweatshirt to fill to the outer edge of the binding.