May 16, 2006

Unique 5005 Pants--Worth Hemming?


Slacks with tapered leg and back zipper.

This was custom-drafted by Unique Patterns. The first draft was beaucoup baggy in the back thigh. I emailed Unique. They redrafted. The redraft was less baggy but not nearly good enough. There may have been a 2nd re-draft--I know I've made a couple of toiles, each time thinking maybe they got it right this time.

I decided to take the most recent redraft and make it work, so I read through Pants for Real People and altered the pattern, widening the legs and adding a front fly while I was at it.

I made it up in a really nice black polyester from Wally World ($1/yd). It turned out better, but still baggy in back so the pattern needs more work, but they fit about as well as RTW. I put them aside because I was disappointed in Unique and the fact that the pants still don't hang nicely in the back. All they need is hemming and I need black pants so I will try them on again. If they don't look as bad as I remember I may keep them.

On a brighter note, I've learned more about fitting pants, thanks to Threads magazine and Pattern Review , so I'm confident that I will be able to perfect the fit.