Did you know her name is pronounced "Key-Stess" as opposed to "Qwis-tis". Now you know!

I had such a time looking for other people who've cosplayed her. Hardly anyone has, and if they have I found I didn't really gain any insight on how to make my own cosplay of her. Most of the cosplay photos I found were also very old. 

I decided to make some adjustments to her 'pants'. In the artwork she clearly wears her skirt over some slacks, which looks fine in game. Unfortunately it looks more like this IRL:

The 90's and very early 2000's were both a cursed and blessed time. Instead of the pant/skirt combo, I decided thigh-highs and some cute ankle boots would modernize the costume and keep me from looking like Ashley over here:

Materials

• Black Stretch Pleather
• Stretchy Orange/Peach/Pink/Rust fabric for the top and skirt
• Grey pleather
• Brown Pleather
• One big belt buckle
• Silver chains (I used about 1 m)
• Silver beads for belt details
• Grey bias tape
• Dark Red stretch pleather
• Brads or studs
• Whip (I got mine on amazon)
• Either a 3D printed spike or a foam one
• Craft foam and contact cement

Leggings and Gloves

Both of these were made from black stretch pleather. I measured the top and bottom of my legs and cut out a rectangle with those measurements. I sewed up the sides and pinned the tube on my leg so it was snug. I took off the legging and sewed where I pinned. Just keep doing this until they fit the way you want them too. I didn't make them socks because I was lazy.

I used the same method I always use for gloves: Tracing my hand and sewing. I added cuffs on the gloves too, so that they would cover my shirt sleeve things. If you're really feeling fancy you can use two different textured stretch pleathers for the gloves. Which is what I like to do.

Skirt

I started by tracing one of my own skirts that fit almost exactly like I wanted Quistis's to fit on to some mock-up fabric. I sewed up my mock up and tried it on to make sure it fit and had the correct length. Once that was done, I marked out the panels, numbered them and cut them out.

I laid them out on my good fabric and pinned and cut everything out. Then I sewed everything together. It takes a while to sew up each panel.

Once everything was sewn, I tried it on, and checked the fit. Once it fit well I sewed my seams down with a darker thread to sort of make pinstripes? Hope that makes sense.

Once that was done, I added a waist band and made a slit in the back for ease of movement.

Top

I first made a custom pattern using my dressform. Just wrap it in plastic and mark where you need to cut. I recommend only cutting 3 pieces and making a mock up first.

Once my mock up was made and I was happy with it, I numbered and cut out the panels. Then I cut everything out on my good fabric and sewed the top together. Once I was happy with the fit, i did all the pinstripe seams. Make sure you're 100% happy with how the top fits at this stage because going back to take it in more is harder later on.

The last thing to do on this portion of the top was to bias the edges and add the zipper. 

The next step was making the sleeves. I made these exactly like the leggings. Making a tube and pining and sewing until it was right. The little shoulder pieces are just straps of the same pleather. I added metal studs as well.

Belts

I create belts one of two ways. The first way is to sew the belt together, good sides facing in, and flip it inside out by cutting down the back. I then sew the edges down and weather with paint.

The second way is to wrap a strip of foam with fabric. I used contact cement to glue the fabric down.

I used the first method for the grey belt. I used embroidery thread and beads to make the dangly bits on it. I also created a loop on the brown belt that attaches it to the grey one so it sits properly.

The chains on either sides are attached to the grey belt by stitching down with embroidery thread.

The brown belt was made by the second method.

Whip

I was gifted the whip from my amazon wish list, so you could go and buy something similar.

I trimmed all the pleather off the tip and 3D printed the pointy part of a Kunai to attach. I used contact cement to wrap the pleather strip around the stem of the Kunai.

The handle was wrapped with craft foam, and craft foam was used to make the raised details. The foam was primed with modge podge and painted with regular acrylic paints. The diamond pattern was painted on with pleather paint.

Wig

I got my wig from Arda Canada. I also purchased the hair clip from Walmart? I think?

Anyways, I sectioned the bangs off and put the remaining hair in a low pony tail. I used heat to shape the bags how I wanted and just clipped the rest of the hair in place.

My only complaint is that the wig is very heavy and I should have sewn in a few more clips to secure it on my head.

And that's how I made my Quistis cosplay! I hope this helps and that you learned something cool!

Photo is by Kevin