Take 2: Adult Leggings Pattern (free)

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I’ve received so many kind messages about my last post; a children’s leggings pattern and tutorial on how to make leggings or footless tights.  I also included directions on how to make a pattern for adult-sized leggings but stopped short of a pattern.

This week I made a pair for myself, as I’ll need them for our upcoming trip to Central America.  Why not create a pattern and share it with you?  The fabric is black/silver spandex – nylon and spandex or lycra, I think.  Since there was more stretch with the grain, I cut across the grain.  That is, the selvage ran across the top of the tights.

Leggings Pattern sz med pdf

First of all, here is the pattern, which is for an adult size medium.  This is “low tech” pattern making with hand written instructions.  All you need to do is to print the 10 pages in the Adult Leggings Pattern sz med pdf and tape them together following the grid on page 1 of the pattern.

Sizing Tips:

  1. In order to fit well and stay up, the hip size of the finished leggings is about 2/3 of my actual size.  The finished hip circumference is 28″ and my actual measurement is 40″.
  2. The legs are closer to my actual size.  At the top of the inseam, the finished leggings are 18″ circumference against my actual size of about 22″.
  3. At the ankle, the leggings circumference is 7 3/4″ against an actual ankle measurement of 8″.
  4. Length – my leggings inseam is 27″ which is 1″ shorter than my pants inseam.  You may need to lengthen the pattern as most of the world is taller than I am.  That’s just how it is!

If you need to alter the pattern, make a split down the middle of the pattern, which would be at the side seam (if there was a side seam).  As you can see from my’m hoping this will give you an idea of how much to split the pattern.  The nice thing about using lycra or spandex is that it’s forgiving and your measurements don’t need to be exact.

What about the Elastic?

As with children’s leggings, apply the elastic with a zig-zag stitch.  Pull the elastic so it is slightly smaller than the top of the tights.

Here are several more photos of the completed project – these are incredibly comfortable to wear and will be just what I need for our upcoming trip – they will double as tights, long underwear and maybe PJ’s too.

6 thoughts on “Take 2: Adult Leggings Pattern (free)”

  2. thank you Mira, your post was so helpful! in 10 minutes I made a new pair of leggings with the fabric I bought months ago exactly for that purpose :)

  3. Thank you so much for this. I was getting ready to pattern leggings myself when I stumbled on this and you saved me so much time and energy.

  5. Hi, your tutorial is really helpful to me. What kind of fabric do you think the best for making leggings? and where do you get it? online or in store? Thanks.

  6. Any type of fabric with a 4 way stretch and good recovery is good for leggings. I purchase both online and in stores – whenever I see the appropriate fabric, I grab it and stash it as it’s hard to find.

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