Tink's Mom

I have made jackets out of the sweatshirts from Walmart, too...I ended up putting a band on the bottom on 2 of them. The third one, I left the band on. and stretched it a bit to make it square. Worked well.
BTW, I turn my sweatshirt inside out to stitch on. This way the "lining" of the jacket is the outside of the original sweatshirt instead of the fleecy inside of the shirt.

sewmom

I made a jacket with a sweatshirt and they always say to cut off the ribbing which makes the sleeves and jacket too short. So I added additional sweatshirt fabric to the original before starting the quilting part.

mighty

It is really beautiful, I would add a band and it will be perfect!

charsuewilson

I'd add a band or several on the bottom. The jacket is way too short for me. This pattern calls for removing the bottom band from the sweatshirt, that's how it ends up too short. I'd add at least the distance from the bottom of the sleeve length to the middle of your hand (3-4"), but if it were for me, I'd make it as long as my fingertips (7-8"). My measurements assume that the sleeve length is correct, that it will go down to a wrist watch on your arm.

Pat M.

I always buy an XXL Mens sweatshirt. That way it is long enough, I use a jacket pattern to cut out the sleeves and jacket body.

Froggiey

I wish I had know all of this before I started. Thank you all so much!

carolstickelmaier

Don't forget to buy a mens sweatshirt at least one size larger than you wear due to the fabric you take up in the seams. I usually look for a mens tall also. So far no problems in length.

ktbb

I've extended the length on a sweatshirt jacket as carol mentions here and it worked out beautifully. There are a couple of ways of doing it, but it's works well -

charsuewilson

If you're going to buy a sweatshirt too big and use a jacket pattern, why not just buy fleece in the first place?

carolstickelmaier

I may be mistaken but I don't believe that fabric is available most places and it would take somewhere around 3 yards of 40" fabric to make a jacket. That in itself would price it out of my range. Sweatshirts are anywhere from 9.00 to 15.00 where I live and cheaper on sale. Not sure what it cost in other areas of our country or the availability of the fabric. Could be its a cheaper route in your area.