The great boxer brief debate

One of my sewing goals this year was to sew more for my husband. I have made a few things for him on my sewing journey and some he has loved and others, meh. I really want him to enjoy custom fitting clothes too. Plus all the fabric options out there, maybe he would like something more than just a regular cotton t-shirt.

I decided to start by making him some boxer briefs. I used the Walbrook boxer briefs from Greenstyle Creations (available in boys and mens). The pattern has a few options to choose from like a functioning or non- functioning fly, an encased elastic waistband or an exposed elastic waistband, and two different lengths. The sizing range is S-XXXL (28”- 50” waist). To make these fully his, I had him pick the options he wanted. He chose functioning fly, encased elastic waistband, and the longer length. Whew, progress.

Now for the fabric. I didn’t know what kind of fabric he would prefer and people swear by different ones, so why not make a few. He is working hard on learning fabrics but I figured I’d play it safe and slim down his choices. We ended up with a cotton spandex (ice cream cones, I know right?!? He is such a trooper), double brushed poly (plaid), and MVC (Micro Viscose Cotton, black). When talking breathability and softness I see these three come up quite often so I figured this would be a good comparison for them.

Let’s talk sewing first. I much preferred sewing the DBP. The MVC was a close second, with the Cotton Spandex bringing up the rear (wink wink). The pattern requires at least 50% stretch, and while they all have that, a few parts were a bit more tricky with the MVC (wanting to roll) and Cotton Spandex (a bit more bulky) vs the DBP. I sewed up the Cotton Spandex pair completely first and then switched my thread, (yes I am one of those that need matching thread) and sewed up the DBP and MVC at the same time. The MVC was harder for me to tell the right from the wrong side so I marked them once cut, to keep things correct. While I used the same options for all pairs, I’m not exactly sure what happened to the fly on the DBP pair. It is still “functioning” but it is more of a functioning air vent, shall we say?, vs a functioning access port. Ha ha ha. Seriously no idea.

When I gave the three pairs to my husband I also gave him a spreadsheet questionnaire to give me feedback.  Ya’ll my husband is so awesome! Not only did he fill out my stupid questions but I told him I was going to write up a blog post about it so I needed honest feedback. The man totally gave each a good solid wear! He went running in them. He went to work in them. He did housework in them. He slept in them. He even washed and dried them and wore them again. I had him rate them on a scale of 1-5 for a few categories and then an overall rating, plus any notes he wanted to share. This is how they ranked, and honestly I was surprised with his choices.

His overall least favorite was the Cotton Spandex (ice cream cone) pair ranking at a 3 out of 5. He gave it a 4 for fit and support. A 3 for breathability and it ranked a full 5 for access. It lost points in the overall comfort and came in at a 2. His reasoning was because the fabric felt too thick and bunched up easily.

Next up was the MVC (black) pair which ranked at a 3 out of 5 as well. The differences here that pushed it ahead of the cotton spandex pair was in the support (a full 5) and over all comfort (4). The reason this pair didn’t come out on top was because he felt it twisted and turned into a wedgie too easily.

His favorite pair was the DBP (plaid) with a full 5 for overall preference. He gave it a 5 in breathability, a 5 in overall comfort and a 4 in support. His only complaint was the access, which got a 2. I guess he wasn’t a fan of the “air vent”. He felt that the DBP was the most comfortable fabric as well and score, he even asked for a few more pairs.

I plan to let him do some fabric shopping and make him a few more pairs. I also put in a request for him to reevaluate the three when summer hits and see if he still ranks them the same. I think it is pretty cool that we ranked them the same. It makes it nice when he prefers wearing the ones I preferred sewing. Now my son is asking for matching pairs, so maybe that will be next.

All fabric was from So Sew English Fabrics. The pattern I used was the Walbrook Boxer Briefs from Greenstyle Creations.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through that link, I may get a % back, at no additional cost to you. Let’s be honest, we all know it goes right back to adding to my fabric stash. All opinions on this blog are my own and I have a lot