Welcome to the Lamazi Makers Club August Luxury Inspiration blog. This month we paired two of our favourite products and it is a match made in heaven. The team here at Lamazi are very excited about this project and we hope that you will love it as much as we do.
The pattern is a modern and elegant Castagnette Blouse by a chic French boutique brand Cousette paired with a beautiful, supple and luxurious cotton jacquard fabrics. This blouse is a timeless staple that we adore here at Lamazi team. We have sewn not one but several of them and get complements each time we wear it. The cotton jacquard we’ve chosen really elevates the beauty of this timeless piece.
Castagnette is a V neck boho style blouse. It is loose fitting with a plunging chest line in the back. The lower part of the blouse is gathered. This blouse has two sleeve finishes: either very puffy balloon sleeve tightened with elastic at the wrists, or fitted just above the elbow with a large flounce at the bottom of the sleeve. You have the options to sew a button down version using button loops or leave out the buttons and tie with a ribbon, or use both buttons and a ribbon, depending how much detail you would like to have on your pretty blouse. We have included all the supplies you will need to make either version.
The fabric we chose to pair with Castagnette is a dream come true. It is soft and breezy pure cotton fabric with classic timeless checks reimagined with a modern twist. It comes in two versions, the dark navy and off-white small scale gingham with red flower chain motifs woven into it and a lighter blue check with cute red woven hearts. Just the right amount of detail! We paired it with red buttons and red ribbon which bring out the colour on the garment and help create a striking look.
Liana picked the darker version of the fabric and made buttoned down version with elasticated balloon sleeves. She paired her Castagnette with jeans and loafers. We love the floaty and beautiful look of this blouse and now it elevates the everyday look to semi-casual.
Eve chose the lighter blue version of the fabric and a ribboned version of the blouse with flouncy sleeves. Liana recorded a sewalong when sewing Eve’s blouse. Check our YouTube channel and in here soon for the link of the sew along.
Sewing Tool
There is a bit of hand sewing involved in this project, where the lining is sewn on to the ruffle using slip stitch and attaching buttons. So the luxury sewing tool we chose is going to be perfect for it. It is a unique beeswax pot and a magnetic needle minder at the same time for your hand sewing by Jenerates.
Running your thread over the wax before you stitch helps to prevent knots, and also makes the thread stronger. The wax is fixed to an engraved wooden base and comes in a tin to keep it clean.
This beeswax has a magnetic needle catcher to keep your needle safe, the magnet even works through the tin, packaged in a small, screw top tin
It is made using top 100% Beeswax. Base is made in Scotland from FSC approved cherry wood veneer
Tutorials
The pattern is a fairly simple in construction and detail. The slightly challenging parts involve making the button loops, attaching gathered flounce and hand sewing / slip stitching the bottom edge of the inner bodice to the flounce. The bodice part is lined by the same fabric, so you will need to make the bodice part twice and attach them together.
If you’d like to have a company while sewing Castagnette, we have recoded a sew along which you can follow while sewing. It is available on our YouTube channel. (Link to follow shortly).
We also have a tutorial for hand-sewing which you can find here.
We hope that you will love your Castagnette blouse and will be itching to make more. It is as beautiful in drapey fabrics as the more structured cotton. We cannot wait to see your versions.
Happy sewing!
Lamazi Team xx