Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Drop Trou



DS#2 has been bugging me for weeks to buy him new boxers. The problem is I haven't been able to find more of what he wants, which are silky *knit* boxers. Silk, yes. Cotton knit, yes. But not silky (tricot) knit. They were everywhere a couple of years ago. But now? Nuthin.

This morning I wandered into my sewing room — where I haven't been all week — to put away some fabric I had prewashed and to repair the boxers he does have. It suddenly dawned on me that I have some tricot! (Duh!) Soon, I had pulled out some prints and solids that would work for his boxers and had dug out a pattern.

The pattern is Simplicity 8150, which is long OOP. The boxers pattern has a grand total of one piece (no sideseams) and was even already cut out. I thought that might be a problem since the last time I used it was for St. Patrick's Day themed boxers years ago when the boys were a lot younger. But I laid one pair of the RTW boxers on it and by using 1/4" seams, it was going to be pretty good match. Yay!!





I spent about 30 minutes studying the construction of the RTW around the fly opening because after reading the pattern instructions, I knew I'd have to change things up. I added onto the fly facings so I could fold them over double per the RTW and cut out the fabric.

First I mended the RTW and then I finished up some other errands in and out of the house. It was about 4:30 PM when I got back into the sewing room to sew the new pair. I had just finished them when DS walked in from football practice. He loves the funky print (which is not as pink as it looks in this photo) and they fit him exactly like the RTW. Yay! Success and relief that I can stop tearing my hair out looking for more in the stores and instead start whipping 'em up in an hour now that I have the construction worked out.

And it was very nice to be back in the sewing room again.

8 comments:

  1. Boxers are amazingly quick and well-received, aren't they? :) I recently figured out that I've made about 60 pair for the assorted men in my life (friends, family, and of course DH!). And I'm sure that I'm nowhere near done!

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  2. ooh, tricot. now those would feel good (i love the print). calvin would love those.

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  3. Good job Debbie. I want to make some boxers for DH and my teen brother, but don't have a pattern. I was thinking about just taking apart one of DH's boxers and making a pattern. But your pattern with just one piece sounds ingtriguing. Would it be possible to email me just a picture of the pattern piece, so I can have a general idea how it looks? Dh's boxers have some kind of insert in the center back and I'd like to eliminate that. THanks.

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  4. Great boxers! I love the print.

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  5. And I notice he still has his "tan line" just below the knee. Great print!

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  6. Few things are more satisfying that a grateful recipient, especially when it's one of your kids! What a fun project to get you back in your sewing room!

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  7. Solved a problem and got back into the sewing room! Nicely done!

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  8. With two grandsons and their dads in my life, I went searching for this pattern on ebay. When you said one pattern piece and that it was similar to the rtw that your son liked, that convinced me. I think the shirt and boxers would make a great pj set. Lately regardless of what I pay for boxers for my dh, they are made of the sorriest fabric. I need to do the first pair for him. If you go on a boxer sewing binge,I hope you do a tutorial on the fly and elastic.Thanks for showing us these. mssewcrazy

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Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

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