My new Tewksbury tank is here! (w/pics)

[flyrod6057]

Beautiful ensemble. The kilt is gorgeous, and the belt, hose, sporran and cromach all look equally amazing. Well worn sir.

[denmcdough]

Excellent!!! I love the colors and the way Barb tapered the top of the kit. Well done, so enjoy

[Piipriker]

just one word: amazing

[Guinness>water]

That is AWESOME, Tobus!! Looks great.

Lovin the beard too!

[Tobus]

Thanks, folks! I just couldn't be more pleased with it. Definitely worth the wait, and the expense.

Very nice indeed. I have a piece of Colquhoun ancient in my queue.

I'm glad you showed that photo, as it illustrates the difference between the 'ancient' and 'reproduction/weathered' colour schemes. My other kilt is in the ancient colourway, and I do like the looks of it, but I had been lusting after a reproduction scheme tartan for a while, having seen others who have done it. I just love the earthy tones. And one of the neat things about DC Dalgliesh's colour schemes for their reproduction tartans is that the brown colour they use to replace green is sort of a "mood" colour. When in direct sunlight, it may look more like various shades of brown/tan, but in soft light it looks more like an olive drab. And the blue has more of a greyish tone to it than the ancient colours. The white is softened to a light cream, and the black is a bit faded from a true black. All of that gives it a great look. As some may recall, I had struggled with various colour schemes for a custom weave, and it was Matt Newsome who convinced me to go with their standard reproduction colours (after seeing his example). I'm glad I did, because it turned out exactly like I wanted it to!

Wow, that is a beautiful kilt. Many congrats Love the belt and buckle too. All around looking terrific.

Add some more points for how well that beard is coming along

Thanks! My wife made the belt and did the tooling, and we chose a buckle specifically for its subdued quality and lack of 'rectangularness'. I had posted about it a couple of years ago. One little detail that makes it special is the tiny thistle she tooled into the back:


As for the beard, yeah, I've been letting it grow long since late last year. Originally I was going to just do it as a 'winter beard' and see what happened. But my wife likes it long, so I'm going to let it keep growing and see what happens. I'm a little taken aback by the amount of grey that's coming in. You can see a big patch of grey in one of my photos in the original post, back at the corner of my jaw. Oh well, that's life.

It's getting long enough now that when the wind blows, it feels really odd! Like a small child tugging on it.

Really very nice. Fits you well! I also like the deep "carving?" of the design on your belt. I am anxiously awaiting a Matt Newsome kilt made from a Dalgliesh custom woven Miller tartan. (I'm going stir crazy!) From what I hear, Dalgliesh considered one of the best mills. How's the hand of your fabric Tobus? Looks great! Wear it in good health!

The fabric is great! It's just a *tad* lighter than the 16-oz wool on my other kilt, which I believe was from Lochcarron. But it has a nice hand, and I can see why so many kiltmakers like it. And unlike some others who seemed to have issues with the straightness of the selvedge, mine seems OK. Not straight-line perfect, but close enough that I'm not bothered by the small variations. I'm not sure which machinery they use for the double-width cloth (whether it's the same machine that gave the selvedge issues), but I'm happy with the results nonetheless. And like I said above, I really love the colours they use for the reproduction tartan.

Excellent!!! I love the colors and the way Barb tapered the top of the kit. Well done, so enjoy

You know, that tapering really impresses me too. It fits like a dream. And since I'm at my thinnest right now (or, shall we say, at the low point of my usual 3-year weight swing), I have plenty of room for expansion.

Another thing that really impressed me about Barb's work is the reduced bulk at the fell, compared to my other kilt. They both have the usual pleat cut-outs and such, but I guess she did a much more expert job on that than whoever built my other kilt. It really lays flat, conforming to my shape, with no feel of extra 'stuff' back there. Much more comfortable, and I'm hoping it'll be less hot than the other one!

I really can't wait to put together some of the other components I have planned, like the bias waistcoat, day plaid, and maybe even a Victorian-era full plaid (which I guess would be comparable to a piper's plaid today, but without looking so crisply pleated). And Barb sent me all the pleat cut-outs and other scraps too, so I can do all kinds of cool stuff with the pieces.

[Baldybrown]

I am sooooo envious. The tartan itself is amazing, and the workwomanship makes it an heirloom. Good choice on both.

[Spartan Tartan]

Very nice looking kilt. I really like the brown leather straps with brass buckles as well.

[NeightRG]

Beautiful kilt, and a well put together outfit to go with it.

[SlackerDrummer]

That's a beaut, Tobus.

[Hamish]

There is no mistaking the superlative quality of a genuine 'Tewksbury' (I have two). Marry that with the gorgeous weathered Colquhoun tartan and you have a masterpiece to be sure. Congratulations Tobus, and Barb.

Take care,
Ham.