Gentlemen, show us what you've made!

Wow. Impressive work. How long did it take you to learn to knit that well?

Surprisingly not all that long, and i don't mean that to sound big headed. 2 needles, any old ball of DK or thicker wool and a load of youtube videos. After a month of practising i was ready to start a project. Really all there are is 2 stitches, a knit and a purl, thats all, just 2 stitches. Everything is made from just those 2 simple stitches, its just the various combinations of how you put them together that gives you the shape and pattern. But it's surprisingly good fun, just the thing to pass an hour or so in the evening.

And thank you for the compliment!

I'll take one in olive with a slightly narrower waistband please in a 40" short......well done that man, top skills!

I've been working on this project for a while, and recently finished it. It's a five piece suit, inspired by the one worn by Bela Lugosi in The Black Cat. His was only a three piece, but I had enough extra fabric for a cap and plus fours. I've been wanting a plus fours suit, so this was a good opportunity to make one.

Here's Lugosi in the original suit. Mine's not an exact copy, but pretty close.



And mine. The fabric is a tweedy wool in brownish green, with tan and burnt orange flecks. Four patch pockets with a gathered back at the yoke and belt.







Here it is with the plus fours and cap.




Some detail shots. The jacket has a coin catch in the lower right pocket, an in-breast pocket, and a small inside pen pocket.


The vest was made using a draft from A. A. Whife's The Modern Tailor, Outfitter, and Clothier. It has four pockets and an inside pocket in the lining.




The cap was made with a 1920s draft.


Some trouser shots. The details aren't identical on the top sides, I tried some different things with closures.




All five pieces laid out.

Really beautiful work. I couldn't help thinking while I was looking at the photos that the lines of the clothing are so much more sophisticated and graceful than the current fashion, while at the same time being somehow more masculine. Kind of a revelatory experience to see them. Thanks.

Absolutely wonderful!

Your skill increases with each suit Nick. Truly great work.

Thanks, gents! This was a fun project. I've got my next suit planned, it'll be a linen summer suit.

great work Nick. my only gripe is with the fabric, not with your skill; i wish it could have been a bolder flecky Donegal !

herringbonekid said:

great work Nick. my only gripe is with the fabric, not with your skill; i wish it could have been a bolder flecky Donegal !

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Me too! A little heavier would be nice, but I bought this online (9 yards and a steal on eBay) and that's often a gamble, though it looks better in person. Ah, well, in the future. I have a nice Harris tweed for a suit at some point.

That is very, very, impressive. The workmanship, the style, well, everything!

Truly great work..............

Nick D said:

Thanks, gents! This was a fun project. I've got my next suit planned, it'll be a linen summer suit.

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Great sharing, I am really looking forward to see linen summer suit.

A lovely cap arrived to my hands after winning it on Ebay and I believe it was handmade by @herringbonekid . May I share your work here? It's just fantastic

Amazing work being demonstrated on this thread. I do some sewing, but nothing up to the quality of some of the pieces here. I can dream that I will be able to do a full suit one of these days.

Michael

willyto said:

A lovely cap arrived to my hands after winning it on Ebay and I believe it was handmade by @herringbonekid . May I share your work here? It's just fantastic

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please feel free ! i'm glad you're pleased with it, and i didn't realise you were a FL member (unfortunately some of us old timers don't post much here anymore).

Great work Nick!

Nick D said:

I've been working on this project for a while, and recently finished it. It's a five piece suit, inspired by the one worn by Bela Lugosi in The Black Cat.

Click to expand...

Compliments to you, a superb suit, and I'm really taken with the photographic detail, I have only one gripe and that is. I'm now convulsed by the sin of envy.

Not particularly vintage oriented, except for the visual depiction of how to wear your braces, but I made this shirt.
P1170912 crop by Michael A2012, on Flickr

P1170906 crop by Michael A2012, on Flickr

Michael

That's a good effort and a fine shirt Michael, well done you, compliments to you.
It's with some trepidation that I'm putting these photos up: Nick's fine work is just awesome.

Since retirement, I have become a lot more shrewd with costs, no longer can I buy a pair of m-t-m trousers at a hundred and eighty quid, or so, on a whim. So, in order to keep my wardrobe of clothing in good condition, I wear more modern style clothes, when I'm out and about, keeping the more expensive outfits for events and such, sourced from various outlets, from thrift shops to e-bay, from traders to charity shops. The following pictures are that of four pairs of trousers. The first being a m-t-m pair by Rob Crossley of Rocacha, typical of the sort of trousers that I've always worn. They are a bottle green, pure wool in a classic Oxford style.

The next pair, my wife bought today, from a charity shop, for just four pounds. They are typical of today's style, waist line just above the hips, long tapering trouser leg with a plain hem, no cuff turned up. When I next show you this pair, after she has worked on them, they will look altogether different. A higher waist, far less taper and a generous turned up cuff. This will be achieved because these pants are too big for me. The alterations will see the backside go in as it's reduced to my size, thus reducing the taper look, the raising of the trouser bottoms will also decrease the taper look and the current oversize means that the waist can be raised as it's altered. The slant pockets I would like to have altered but I'm not that fussed. You don't come across linen pants for four pounds every day.

The next two pairs, again bought oversize, have had the alterations done. The first pair are in brick red, and made from pure wool, the second are a cotton twill in a grey fleck. if you look closely at the side seam, you will notice a slight puckering from the alteration, it's the price of pulling in the taper. When worn the puckering doesn't show at all. Combined, the two pairs came in at under ten pounds. I'm delighted with them, and with the alterations that Tina did.