Cosette part 1 - the dress

In 2018, I created a cosplay of Cosette Fauchelevent from Les Misérables. I chose to replicate the black dress that, back then, was commonly seen in West End and European productions. To cater to different interests, I’ve divided this post into two parts: one focusing on the dress and the other on the bonnet.

I hope you find this post helpful and enjoy following along with the process.

Photo by Rosa.Rem.Clicks

Above is a photo of the pattern I used to create the dress. It's the Romantic Era Dress pattern from Sense and Sensibility. This Pattern comes with multiple options for style and sewing instructions that I personally considered to be very clear.

Since I used wool fabric, it was crucial to wash it before cutting out the pattern pieces. Wool can easily shrink after washing, and I didn't want the dress to become too small after just one wear. Since I lived without a washing machine in my dorm, I hand washed the fabric.

I cut out the bodice fabric and lining pieces and sewed them together. Then, I ironed the seams flat, to reduce the bulk.

I attached the bodice fabric to the bodice lining and added a waistband, which is simply a rectangular strip of fabric. I also lined the waistband with the lining fabric. The waistband is optional; in fact, I removed it last year because, after some consideration, I decided I didn't really liked it after all.

For the next step, I sewed the skirt pieces together and hemmed them.

You can choose to gather, gauge, or pleat the skirt. I opted for pleating (knife pleats to be exact), which involves making small folds at the top of the skirt. For a more in-depth explanation of this technique or the other methods, I recommend checking out tutorials on YouTube or Pinterest.

I'm sewing the skirt to the bodice before closing the bodice. However, you can also attach the skirt after finishing the bodice, which seems to be the more common approach.

For the belt, I cut two long strips of fabric. I sewed them together with the right sides facing each other, leaving one small side open. Then, I turned the belt inside out, sewn it close and added a buckle for fastening (and decoration). I didn't take photos of it, but to close the dress I handsewn some hooks and eyes to the back.

For the bum pad, I cut two pieces of cotton fabric in the desired shape. Then, I sewed them together, leaving one side open. After turning them inside out, I stuffed the pad with pillow stuffing, sewed it closed, and added a piece of ribbon so it can be tied around the waist. I also made a petticoat to go over the corded petticoat (the corded one was made some years later, I have some reels about this on my instagram, the diagrams are visible in my close friends list on instagram, only for Kofi Supporters (€1). But, now let's go on with this over petticoat first.

For this petticoat, I sewed four rectangles together. Then, on the right side, I placed horsehair braid and pinned it in, aligning the non-threaded side with the edge of the bottom of the fabric.

Sewing the horsehairbraid to the skirt, at the edge.

Then fold horsehairbraid to the inside, this will create a nice hem. If you don't want to add an (optional) decorative hem, you can now sew close this hem.

It's not necessary and serves no functional purpose, but because I think it looks cute and adds to the overall aesthetic, I decided to add a lace trim to the hem before sewing it. I believe it really complements Cosette's vibe, even though it won't be visible to anyone. As mentioned before, I also wear a corded petticoat underneath too give it that real 1830s silhouette. I have 3 reels on instagram showing how I made these, and I will link to them below. In the captions, there is extra information about these steps. If you want the exact measurements, these are only available for my kofi supporters. This costs 1 euro (only one time pay!) and you will need an instagram account to watch them. If you leave your instagram name after donating the 1 euro, you get acces to some exclusive process content. On my instagram handle spoeks you will get acces to the remade bodice of my sarah william's cosplay and information about the anastasia transformation dress (how it's constructed and how to wear it). And on my instagram handle spoeksy you will then get acces to some extra info about making Glinda, Ariel kiss the girl, Rapunzel, and some silhouette pieces like edwardian bust improver (and then I never made an edwardian dress oops) and the corded petticoat! :) Anyway, the URL's to the (free) videos about the corded petticoats can be found here: Part 1: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXeC4vcDO58/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Part 2: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXv-SvaDPDf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Part 3: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CYCRmdbqNcG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== If you do want the extra info (and acces to the other exclusive content), here is a link to my kofi: https://ko-fi.com/spoeks please remember that you do need an instagram account and leave your username with the donation to gain acces to them! I hope you liked this blog post and I'll see you soon in part 2! :)