I was itching to play thought Final Fantasy 16, but didn't own the game yet. I didn't want to wait, especially because I'm so paranoid about spoilers, so figured I could watch a gameplay on YouTube. Little did I know it would be all I watched for like 2 weeks. Every chance I got, I was watching. I was so consumed with the game and it was such a beautiful story, that it was no surprise I fell in love with the characters which usually means having a need to cosplay from it.
So I decided to take on the challenge of making Jill Warrick using only materials I had. I figured it would be a way for me to upcycle items and get creative with the costume.
I ended up working on it for about 2 months. It took me so much longer than I anticipated and there were times that I was doubting my progress, but I was really trusting the process in this one!
Here's my breakdown:
Blouse
This took me about 3 tries and I honestly wasn't super happy with it, but I will say, this allowed me to learn some new ways to layer fabrics and how surprisingly well some fabric choices ended up looking.
I ended up using a lot of left over fabrics from my Rey cosplay!
I first draped the pattern for the collar, then built around it. It was basically building on layers. Shirt pattern underneath, then cut out the collar shape I pattered. That shirt piece, I then layered on some gathered gauze-like fabric onto it. I then sewed all the pieces together. Sewed some extra lines under the bust, to take in some of the bulk of the fabric. Then added the sleeves. She wears a glove on her right hand, so I only added a pleated trim to one sleeve. I was so focused on figuring out how to make it, that I ended up not even taking photos of the steps. I hope it makes sense though!
Vest and Layers
I patterned the vest by doing some draping, then used some left over dark blue and flowery fabrics for the outside and lining. I finished all the edges with a HK stitch using bias tape I made out of the same fabrics. I think it turned out really crisp and clean!
I then made a circle skirt out of a silvery blue brocade.
Then, I took apart a dress I had (a big wedding gown I've had for ages- I actually have several of them. They were sample dresses that were given to me by a family member who used to work at a boutique!) to harvest the nice white fabric from. I ended up making it long and adding DRAMA! to the skirt, which I hope to not hate later haha! (i tried taking a photo of the dress, but Rohan kept laying on it and pawing at it to make a little nest)
Everything was layered and sewn onto a waist band!
Final pieces, accessories, and finishing touches
I started by making the chain maille belt. I didn't have materials for that, but I did have a pretty convincing fabric that looked like it could work. I basically cut a panel, hemmed it, and added 2 rows of lace.
I finally felt like it was coming together, so I had to start finalizing every piece by doing all of the closures. This meant zipper on the blouse, snaps on the skirts and vest, and adding all the remaining details to those pieces. That was the details to the collar and the grommets on the skirt side. Then adding the belt that goes on the vest.
Next, was the gloves! I initially made a full glove, but really disliked how it looked. SO I remade it into a fingerless mitten and I'll wear a glove underneath. I added the belt and brown "frill" to the top (which I then hand-sewed lace and beads to).
For the arm wristlet/gauntlet, I just did foam covered foam using my tried and true Heat n Bond method. For this, I used craft foam because I didn't have EVA foam and it makes such a big difference. EVA can hold heat much better and craft foam immediately curls. SO it works, but EVA foam is the way to go. I think it gives a much cleaner result.
I then sewed a lining black fabric and straps to it.
Then, I made the belt pieces, which was using webbed belting and covering part of it with fabric. Some parts of the belt had a backing in sections, so I just made that out of foam covered with fabric. I burned some holes for the lacing and added the ribbon to give it the laced/corset look.
For the loops on the side, I made a separate piece that was 2 loops and two handing belt tails (I hope that makes sense!).
I made the scarves with some matching fabrics and a really wide trim that happened to have a similar design.
You can also see here, that I added a little pin to my vest!
Next was the rapier scabbard (would that be considered a scabbard??), which ended up being my favorite part of the costume.
I pattered it out of paper, then transferred the pattern onto grey pleather.
The back of the pleather happened to have the perfect color and texture, so I sewed two layers together, following the shape I had drawn on the fabric (i sewed them with the wrong sides facing each other).
Then I sewed the entire shape again, but a little bit more on the inside of my initial sewing. So basically the width of what I wanted the lines to look like.
I then cut around it and then cut out the top layer, right by that second line I sewed.
I sewed another layer of that grey pleather on the sides and top, leaving the bottom open. I then cut around to make the belts that hold the buckles, and rounded the fabric in between each belt about an inch below the top layer (I think it makes more sense when you see the photo).
I added a foam backing to make it sturdier, then embellished with some trim a brads.
For the belt attachment, I used an old earring that I modified. I also added some gross grain ribbon near the belts, so that I could tie it to the main belt.
I then tied some brown fabric to the belt attachment, which loops around the main belt. Then used the ribbon to anchor it at the front.
And finally, the boot covers! I just modified the pattern I had previously used for my Phoenix costume (I used McCall's M7397 pattern) and cut into something more like a gaiter.
I then added the boot tops with the tan brown fabric I had used for other parts, and added a grommet tape for the lacing.
Wig
I bought a cheapy wig from Amazon and did a lot of gluing and styling. I had some left over white wefts from another costume, so I added it and "dyed" the extra hair with eyeshadow and A LOT of hairspray!
I'm so happy to FINALLY share my Jill photos with you. This was almost 3 months in the making (i know it was a mix of time constraints, a few mental breaks, and things taking longer than usual), but I think it was really worth it. I'm really happy with it and I'm so glad that I took the time to make it properly. It's no competition piece, but it felt good to make something that pushed my craftsmanship a little bit more, since it had been a while.
Finishing this costume really gave me a surge of inspo and I'm ready to start working on my next cosplay <3
Taking photos was a bit challenging, since I was trying to get full body photos and I kept getting some strange angles and my camera kept trying to adjust to the amount of blue/white/grey (color correcting FTW). I hope to take some photos someday with a nice setting (but during Winter, because OMG I was not expecting this costume to be as hot as it was PHEW!)
I hope you enjoyed this cosplay build and look forwards to my next one!!
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