How to make your own latex leggings

They are shiny, they look great and high fashion at the moment, latex leggings!

Learn how to make our own latex leggings in this tutorial. Just follow eleven easy steps. Comments and questions are appreciated!

Lets get started!

1. Make the pattern

Make a sketch of your new project. It will help you to keep an overview of which measurements you need and how the pattern should look like in the end.

2. Take measurements

We need the waist, hip and leg for the latex leggings. Check out here how to take the measurements and which ones you need from the leg.

3. Transfer pattern to paper

See here what the latex-leggings pattern should look like. It doesn’t matter what kind of paper you use, but I usually buy a big paper roll in a home improvement store. The thickness of the paper is up to you, what matters is that you can work with it! To get the curves right, I use French curve rulers.

4. Cut out the pattern

Don’t be chocked if you think it looks big!

5. Transfer pattern to latex sheeting

Place your pattern on the latex sheeting and draw around it. The leggings consist of 4 parts, a front and a back side for each leg! Take the front side, put it on the latex, draw around it, then flip the pattern once over and draw around it. Now you got the two front sides on the latex sheeting. Do the same with the backside. I used a silver paint marker.

6. Cut and clean latex

Cut the latex sheeting out and clean it from the paint marker by using the mineral spirit and a piece of cloth. If your latex sheeting got to much talcum powder on from the production process, then I recommend you to rinse it off with water or take a wet piece of cloth to wipe it off. (To make sure while you work with your latex sheeting that there wont be talcum powder on your fresh applied glue, because as soon as you touch the latex sheeting with the talcum powder on, you will have it on your fingers and easily transfer it to the glue on the seam while you work with it).

Tips to remember:

• Give the latex a few minutes to straighten itself out again, after you applied the glue.
• Do not stretch the latex, pull anywhere to make it work, but never stretch the parts you are just about to glue together. A little practice will help. 
• Keep your workspace clean to avoid left over glue sticking to the latex leggings.
• Have some small weights around to help you hold the pattern parts separated and under control.

7. Glue the seams

Start out with the outer seams on the leggings! Take the front and backside of one leg. Watch out that you take the right parts, it is a mess to get the glue off again if you applied it once! So check carefully for the shiny and rough sides on the latex sheeting and put them together the right way.

Now use the mineral spirit to clean your seam from all particles remaining! Apply the glue on both seams, the front and the backside pattern.

To get that right, you apply the glue for the front side on the rough side of the latex sheeting and on the backside you apply the glue on the shiny side, so that you glue in the end the front side on top of the backside seam.

You should start gluing from the waist down to the ankle, so that you can cut over standing parts off after you are done gluing! If you got your seam together use your seam roller and apply pressure to the seam by rolling over it! Do the same with the outside of the other leg!

This is how your leggings should look like by now.

8. Glue the crotch together

Ok, this might be a little difficult for some of you, because of the curve. But I am sure with some patient you will manage it!

You will now glue the crotch of the front sides together! Again clean your seam and apply the glue on the crotch of both legs.

Here you will not start out on the waistline, start by the other end where the deepest curve is, so that in case you have to cut something of in the end, you will cut it of on the waistline.

Do the same with the crotch in the back.

9. Glue inner legs

Now you are almost there, just the inner sides of the legs are missing! Start out by placing your leggings so on your workspace that they are wide spread, which will make it easy to clean them and apply the glue afterwards without moving them around.
I apply the glue on one entire leg and approx. 10-15cm on the other leg. After the latex straighten itself out again, start by gluing the middle of the crutch together and then go down the leg where there is glue on all the way.

That the other leg, where I don’t have glue on all the way, is not sticking together, I will put a little weight or just my rotary cutter in between to avoid it.

After I glued on leg together I will do the rest of the other one. The reason why I apply those 10-15cm of glue on the second leg and then put something in between is that it is then easier for me to apply afterwards glue on the rest of the second leg. It gives me a nice point to start out with applying the rest of the glue.

10. Waistband

You will need a 4 cm (1.6″) wide band with the length of your leggings waistline.
The band should be thicker then latex sheeting you used for your leggings, so that it will be able to keep your leggings up when you wear them. I used 0.6 mm latex sheeting for the waistband.
Now when you glue the waistband on the leggings, you will start on the middle seam in the back of your
latex leggings and will also end there. You glue the waistband of the leggings on the outside of the leggings, not on the inside.

If you are uncertain if your leggings will be to high up the waist after you will have glued the waistband on, then just carefully try the leggings on before you glue the waistband on. Use some talcum powder to get easier in.

11. Reinforcements

You will glue reinforcements on those points where there will be the most stress, that would be on the seams in the crutch and the ankles.

Now you should be done!

If necessary clean the leggings, shine them and dress up!

Credits: Making Latex Clothing, "How to make your own latex leggings" [online] available at http://makinglatexclothing.com