SNOW!!! I have waited since October for snow to fall in this very grey city, and today it was so beautiful! The flakes were falling in large fluffy clumps as I drove my DD1 to a high school audition. It was so pretty!
Anyways, the real point of this post is a little review of Vogue 8296. I’ve had this pattern kicking around for years. 
I used to have a long denim skirt along the same lines, and when this pattern was released I bought it for when the RTW skirt wore out. I used thrifted Harris tweed and lined it with poly charmeuse. This is a heavier lining than I’ve used with tweed skirts in the past. I usually use bemberg but I find that the scratchiness of the tweed (particularly Harris) makes its way through the bemberg. The charmeuse is the perfect barrier! The lining is basically an A-line skirt cut on the bias. Each of the lower skirt sections are sewn as lapped seams. I wasn’t originally going to sew it up this way, but after shrinking the tweed I thought it would be a different look from anything else I own. I left the hem unfinished, too. I don’t know if this will hold up in the long end, but that’s the way it is for now. I’m really hoping the weave is dense enough to prevent extensive fraying so I don’t have to stitch along the edge of it. I would like a little bit of fraying at the hemline, but not long-scary-thread fraying.
The waistband is reinforced with grosgrain. I fell stitched the bottom of the ribbon through all layers, just barely catching the fashion fabric like a subtle bit of understitching. It worked beautifully.
I finished up this skirt last week and wore it twice, but decided that it needed a little something extra. So I outlined the skirt seams with a dot stitch (aka rice grain stitch) in red DMC embroidery cotton.
And that’s the end of winter skirts around here. Having all these skirt options has made me realize my closet is extremely limited in the tops department.
Mezzo Couture 
Terrific skirt, all the way around!
What a funky and fun winter skirt! I’m guessing that it’s uber-cosy with wooly tights.
What a unique pattern for a fun flippy skirt. Your skirt looks so nice made up in the Harris Tweed.
Beautiful! I own and have made up this pattern too… it uses a lot of fabric but is truly a lovely skirt.
A beautiful skirt and I love “Harry’s Tweed”!
A very great job!
Very cool skirt! I love the stitching you added.
The is a classic! You have done such a lovely and professional job!
We have only had 2 small storms. One in October, very strange. That snow was gone in a few days.
A few weeks ago we had our second snow fall only dropping 4″ or 5″. That snow is just about gone too. It really doesn’t feel like winter here. I’m in the US in Massachusetts.
I love the lines of your skirt. So interesting and very different.
I have just finished my ‘summer line’ of skirts and now heading into my winter ones. Just completed Burda 8407 which is very similar to this one – might ‘borrow’ the dot stitch idea…
Ooo, that’s so nifty! I love the staid fabric with the cool design—great combo!
We actually had some real winter a couple of weeks ago—daytime highs of -25C! Unfortunately I was sick and not paying attention to the weather and kept sending my kids off without scarves and snowpants… oopsie… 😦
Love the flippy skirt. I think your coat is darling as well.
Please could you recommend a book or magazine that would help me to learn how to smock.
I know the basics, but anyone with experience such as yourself, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
JoanneM
Hi, Joanne! I learned to smock from Australian Smocking & Embroidery magazine. I just happened to be browsing through the sewing section in my local big box bookstore and picked up AS&E Issue 50 and thought I’d like to try it. The first thing I’d ever smocked was Vogue 1755 and was hooked. The Australian magazines have a lot of instruction and really pretty ideas. You can also check out their website at CountryBumpkin.