My Fridays are now dedicated to do or learn something useful.  I don’t know why it took me months to come up with this decision.  I have been going to work only four days a week since September so I feel I wasted so much time in those Fridays I spent doing, well, nothing.

These days I’m making up for lost time by learning to sew, as you can see on the posts even before this.  Instead of watching movies online, I’m now browsing for easy sewing patterns to follow.  I’ve been searching for tutorials on how to make boxer shorts so I could make one for my husband  and finally, finally, I came across Craft Passion where they have a pattern for such.  And yes, it’s for free!  So nice of them, right?

This pattern is so easy to put together but this is my first time to sew boxer shorts ever so I skipped on the pockets part.  I also came up with a different way to put the pieces together, like a simplified way for beginners like me.

Note:  Pattern is for maximum 40 inches waistline.  My husband’s is 35 inches and these boxers fit just perfectly for him.  Maybe next time I’ll enlarge it a bit by one inch so it will be super comfy especially for sleeping.

Materials needed:

• 1 meter of cotton fabric
• Half a meter of 1-inch wide elastic
• Matching thread
• sewing essentials

Instructions:

1. Fold fabric in half, wrong sides touching.  Trace the pattern and cut through the second piece.

2.  Put fabric together, right sides touching.  As shown in the photo above,  I used a marker to guide where I start and end my seams.

3.  Stitch through the marked lines.  Don’t forget to back-stitch at the beginning and ending of each seam.  Overlock the edges to keep fabric from fraying.  If you don’t have a serger or just the word itself is already too complicated to understand, do the flat-felled seam method like I did.  This one is easy and does the job without my nose bleeding from trying to figure out how.

4.  Sew inseam.  This one I found a bit challenging at first but with the help of pins I managed without the looming threat of a nose bleed.  Do the the flat-felled seam method once again for a nice look.

5.  Create a double hem and press.  It’s easier if you use pins to hold it in place like I did in the second photo.  Stitch it as close to the edge so it wont flap.

6.  Now the elastic waistband.  What I did was doubling the measurement of my husband’s (Christmas) boxers, adding an inch overlap.  Stitch the overlap shut to form a loop.

7.  Pin the elastic on the waist evenly as shown on the photos above.  Run a zigzag stitch on top, stretching the elastic as you stitch around.

8.  Fold the waistband and stitch again, this time at the bottom edge of the elastic.  Turn right sides out and you’re done!

It’s a perfect fit!  I didn’t even have to call my model to try it on.  He immediately did.  I guess my husband was as excited as me.  I’ve finally sewn him boxer shorts after a year of telling him I’ll do it.  Now isn’t this a great idea for gifts?

Update:  I have sewn him another pair, this time with pockets.  For a different way to piece these shorts together, please click here.