Sewing Boxers: Patterns, Instructions & Tips

Sewing boxer shorts is so much fun! Here are my instructions and sewing patterns for boxer shorts for men, women, boys, and girls. Perfect for sewing beginners, too.

The most important things at a glance

• Suitable fabrics for boxer shorts include stretchy fabrics such as jersey, modal, underwear microfiber, or performance fabrics
• You can sew the shorts using either a sewing machine or an overlocker
• A wide elastic waistband ensures the shorts fit perfectly
• All boxer shorts patterns in this post are suitable for sewing beginners

Sewing your own underwear made easy! Sewing your own lingerie is the dream of many sewing enthusiasts. It doesn't always have to be the classic brief.

Cool boxer shorts can also be sewn yourself without much effort or prior knowledge.

You can sew all the shorts and panties on this page using an elastic stitch on your sewing machine. For topstitching, for example, a coverstitch machine or a twin needle is brilliant.

Your seams will look truly professional if you use an overlocker. It trims the seam allowance, sews the seam, and finishes the edge in one single step. The result is soft, elastic seams that feel good on the skin.

The binder attachment for a coverstitch machine offers a wonderful method for beautifully finishing leg hems. Between us: it looks more complicated than it is! The technique is incredibly simple: a strip of jersey is automatically folded inwards twice by the binder. You insert the fabric edge into the fold. And off you go.

You can find detailed instructions for sewing with a binder attachment (it is also called a double-fold binder) here at SewSimple.

It not only looks clean from the outside: the seam is also beautifully bound on the inside and is comfortably flat.

Sewing boxer shorts or panties for girls

Better homemade! Sewing cute panties for kids is almost faster than buying them. And the result is really something to be proud of!

Our Hilda mini sewing pattern for girls is a comfortably cut panty with a medium rise. It features an elastic waistband that ensures a good fit.

You can also sew the panties very well with an attached elastic waistband. I will show you how to do this further down in this blog post.

Matches the kids' panties

The Luna mini top goes great with the panties and can easily be repurposed as a light top for summer or a pajama top for warm summer nights. :)

Sewing hipsters yourself

Do you like it a bit more revealing? Then the Zarah hipster is exactly right for you. These close-fitting shorts sit beautifully on the hips and look really hot!

Of course, the instructions are available again as a photo tutorial for download and as a sewing video. :)

Sewing boxer shorts for boys

The sewing patterns presented here are ideal for using up jersey scraps in a meaningful and efficient way. I will show you a special cutting trick further down in this blog post.

By the way, combining different fabric colors to sew boxer shorts for boys also looks really cool. However, you should make sure to use similar fabric qualities.

Sewing boxer shorts or panties for women

Within a very short time, our boxer shorts for women became a favorite among sewing fans. No wonder: the panty not only looks great, but it is also sewn in no time at all.

Because one thing is clear: simple workflows and a perfect fit are not opposites. The more complicated a piece is to sew, the greater the risk that something will go wrong.

My goal: beautiful, fantastically fitting clothing that even beginners can sew without effort.

These panties are no exception.

Matches the women's panties

Simply beautiful and comfortable: The Luna camisole is a smash hit with these cute panties. Like all our women's patterns, the pattern is available up to size 60.

Sewing boxer shorts for men

Our boxer shorts for boys and men are conjured up super quickly. And I bet they will become the favorite underwear of your favorite men in no time?

Important materials

• stretchy fabrics like jersey^* (e.g., modal or viscose jersey^*), performance fabrics^*, underwear microfiber
• Elastic band^*, 2 - 5 cm wide
• Scissors^*
• Rotary cutter^*
• Marking pen^*
• Sewing thread^* in the matching color
• Overlocker or sewing machine

My tip: For cutting out underwear, I find rotary cutters with a diameter of 28 mm irreplaceable. Not only can you cut out the small pattern pieces very well with them, but you can also (carefully!) set your markings with the rotary cutter.

Suitable fabrics

• Cotton jersey fabrics^*
• Performance fabrics, e.g., swimsuit fabrics
• Underwear microfiber
• Modal^*
• Viscose jersey^*
• Ponte jersey^*

By the way, boxer shorts made from so-called Shield fabrics^* are also a really great idea. They are perfect for sports or leisure activities.

Fitted with a cheeky waistband, these functional shorts quickly become an eye-catcher that you won't want to take off at all. :)

My tip: The special antibacterial finish of Shield fabrics^* means that this pretty material sews a bit differently than "normal" jersey. If you don't get good results with a jersey^* or stretch needle^*, I recommend trying a super stretch^* or microtex needle^*.

I personally sew the Shields with both jersey and super stretch needles and find the results fantastic.

By the way, this is also a great fabric for sewing beginners because the fabric edges don't curl! ;)

Sewing boxer shorts from woven fabric

Super popular and really easy: sewing your own boxer shorts from cotton or linen!

The Piet sewing pattern is the perfect sewing project for beginners: very simple to implement. And the result is really something to be proud of.
These casual shorts are sewn from woven fabrics such as cotton^*, linen^*, or viscose fabrics.
Boxer shorts are nice, but are they hard to sew because of the fly? The Piet pattern only has a decorative fly that even beginners can easily handle. And a wide tunnel drawstring that ensures a perfect fit.

Note on cutting

Especially when sewing underwear, you are dealing with small to very small pattern pieces. Therefore, it makes sense to think about how you can use the fabric as efficiently as possible.

My tip: to save fabric, you can cut the pattern pieces using a double fold.

This involves folding the fabric edges in the direction of the grain toward the center from both sides instead of just one. In this way, the fabric can be used optimally. There is less waste.

What you should know

Frequently Asked Questions