We are so excited to share with you this customer collab! We have had our eyes on Julie Basque’s Instagram feed for some time, appreciating her fab styling, fine craftspersonship and overall joyfulness of her posts. We reached out to see if she was interested in working with us and hooray, she was! We gifted the supplies and she’s sharing her make! She’ll be posting about her experience making the Merchant & Mills September Coat over on her Instagram page (@Jules.Makes) and you can read on for all the details!

Julie (she/her) grew up on a ranch in Southern Oregon and has lived in Portland for over 5 years. Julie started sewing in August 2019, she learned to sew so she could make garments in her size and style.

She works online all day and therefore enjoys her time away from screens in her sewing room.

Julie strongly believes that the garments she makes should be able to withstand all of life's important activities: grooving on the dance floor, walking her 17-year-old dog, and lounging while eating ice cream.

You can find Julie at @Jules.Makes on Instagram.

Excited to work with Bolt on this make: the Merchant & Mills September Coat (max size 55” chest, 57.5” hip).

After browsing Bolt’s fabrics I landed on the Robert Kaufman Big Sur Canvas in Moss Green. Wow this is a magical, delicious color and I think it hinted at the retro trench vibes I was imagining for my version. The pictures in the bright sun show it’s true color, but it takes on a darker color with hints of grey when it’s in the shadows.

What’s neat about this pattern is that you really have the option to change the feel and season it could work best with depending on your fabric choice. The canvas is perfect for Fall/Winter but I’m dreaming up a linen version for Spring/Summer or an oilskin to help combat the PNW rainy seasons.

The pattern was a fun and challenging make. I always remember making a coat is a *process* but the steps slowly build and the finishes make it a drool-worthy garment. Before this I would have shied away from saying I’m an intermediate sewist (something closer to advanced beginner) but this pattern really walks you through each piece and builds your confidence.

For sizing I cut a size 24 bust and graded to a size 28 at the hips. The wearing ease was pretty generous, so you could size down for a closer fit if you’d like. Personally, I love the big statement of this jacket on my plus size body. Shoutout to Amanda Richards for saying fat bodies are essentially the “jumbotron of human physiques” which I’m feeling with this coat length and size.

Also, if you want pockets galore this is the pattern for you! This pattern has 2 inseam pockets, 2 patch pockets, and 1 breast pocket. The breast pocket was a bit small for my preference, but I think it goes well with the proportions of the jacket (on my next make I might make a slightly smaller version of the bottom patch pockets for the breast pocket).

This was my first time making a collar with a collar stand and I love the finished look that allows the collar to nicely and neatly fold down. These are the types of finishes that make going slow worth it on a garment staple like this coat.

I decided for an unlined version and used my serger to finish the seams. For folks doing the unlined version I would recommend finishing the edges of all pieces of the sleeves before sewing them together and to the body. The instructions have you finishing the seams after and it was more difficult to get a nice finish on all of the pieces after the sleeves were already assembled.

The collar, the pockets, and the color of this coat definitely make it feel retro to me. So when selecting the buttons I went with these white mod vintage buttons from my Grandma’s stash.

The finishing touches I added were a label and a coat hook. The pattern doesn’t include a coat hook but I recommend making one using a piece of scrap fabric that’s at least 1in wide and 4in long, sew it together lengthwise and turn inside out. For a nice clean finish, anchor it to the coat collar instead of the facing, and add it when sandwiching the collar to the body of the coat.

Now I’m ready for some field frolicking.

Pictured with the September Coat:

Wiksten Shift Top by Wiksten in Windowpane linen
Glebe Pants by Muna and Broad in linen blend
Vintage Coach purse
Vintage cicada resin earring
Crocs clogs

Drumroll please! Julie of @Jules.Makes and Her September Coat!