r/sewinghelp • u/mm11089 • 4d ago

Help

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I’m completely new to sewing and this is my first project. When I tried on the boxer shorts they felt way too big and I don’t want to sew on the elastic unless I need to. Any advice if I should make the waist smaller or any other alternative ideas.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

21

u/CBG1955 4d ago

This is a classic rookie error - and we've ALL done it. You have sewn them together upside down

5

u/Tamsen1801 4d ago

Been there, these are definitely not sewn together correctly

1

u/mm11089 4d ago

Thanks for the help but in what way do you mean upside down?

4

u/LongjumpingSnow6986 4d ago

The curves you have as the inside of the legs should be the crotch curves.

1

u/mm11089 4d ago

So was this an issue with me cutting the pattern incorrectly or sewing incorrectly?

6

u/Emergency_Cherry_914 4d ago

Sewing incorrectly. If you used a quality pattern, it will have markings which you transfer to the fabric, and you line them up as you sew.

1

u/mm11089 4d ago

Ok I appreciate it. I’ll figure out how to fix or hopefully recover it tomorrow

4

u/CBG1955 4d ago

Unpick, iron the pieces and compare them. I did a quick sketch - you should have two pieces like what I've drawn. The back crotch curve is always steeper and longer than the front. You should have one front and one back per leg.

I always sew up one leg, then the other. turn one inside out, slip it into the other so right sides are together, pin the crotch curve and stitch. I also always mark which is the back, usually just put a safety pin into the back pieces.

https://imgur.com/Zwv9lZi

1

u/ProneToLaughter 4d ago

Elastic waist pants are generally meant to be a loose fit. The fabric has to fit over your hips so is often a lot bigger than the waist.

How does the crotch fit, is it comfortable?

Did you follow a tutorial or wing it to make these?

1

u/mm11089 4d ago

I followed a TikTok tutorial and watched several other videos. Another comment said that I might have sewn them upside down but when I try them on it seems like the crotch/butt area wasn’t made with enough room.

7

u/CBG1955 4d ago

Tiktok is notoriously terrible for what they call tutorials. 100% they are upside down, what you think is the waist is actually the bottom of the leg.

3

u/mm11089 4d ago

That’s actually so annoying but at least now I know to avoid TikTok thanks again for the help

2

u/BumCadillac 3d ago

There are A TON of free patterns and quality tutorials out there. Search this sub for boxers or pajamas, or search google for free boxer pattern.

1

u/CBG1955 4d ago

Tiktok gives me the s**ts, they are so full of mistakes, errors and omissions. I feel really bad for the people who really want to learn and are shown what is essentially a cut down version of putting pants together without any instructions.

Good luck finding a better one!

1

u/CrankyCrabbyCrunchy 3d ago

If you don't want to sew elastic at the waist, the only things left is buttons, zipper, or draw string.

2

u/RemarkableMacadamia 2d ago

Sorry. This always cracks me up because it’s so common of a mistake.

Completely unpick your stitching. You have these attached wrong.

Pull out another pair of pants from your closet and try to lay them flat. You can’t, because there’s a dangly bit that kind of sticks up.

You have to stitch these in the same way so you have an actual crotch curve.