How to Design Leggings: 7 Simple Steps

Want to design custom-printed leggings but don’t know where to start? Don’t sweat it—we’re here to help. 

Whether you’re a print-on-demand (POD) dropshipping business owner or are trying to design leggings for your personal wardrobe, this guide is for you. It’ll help you learn the best practices and get you ready to design your first custom leggings. Let’s start!

Step 1: Select the style

Although most of the leggings appear the same with their snug fit and elastic fabric, there are small details that set them apart. We have different legging styles in our catalog to offer variety and cater to diverse preferences. Whether it’s the fabrics, additional pockets, the structure, or other subtle nuances, our selection ensures everyone can find their perfect pair of leggings.

This leads us to the first step of legging designing—selecting the style. 

Read also: From Workout to Leisure: Types of Leggings for Every Occasion

Yoga leggings 

Let’s start with one of our best-selling print-on-demand products—the All-Over Print Yoga Leggings. In fact, yoga clothes are among the trending products to sell in 2024. According to Google Trends, they showcase a consistent demand during all seasons. 

Our yoga leggings are made of smooth and comfortable microfiber yarn with a four-way stretch, ensuring the fabric stretches horizontally and vertically. Coming in sizes XS–XL, this style offers a flattering look without compromising comfort during various activities, like hiking, biking, and of course—doing yoga. For different preferences, our yoga leggings are available in both capri and full-length. 

Sports leggings

For fitness enthusiasts, our Sports Leggings are the perfect choice. Made of high-quality, stretchy compression material, they offer muscle support and protection during medium to high-intensity workouts. These leggings sculpt the body and make you feel great during cardio or strength training. 

When designing this custom-printed garment, the upper part of these sports leggings is made of non-see-through black material that can’t be changed. However, the bottom part lets you express your personal style with designs of your choice.

Either an all-over pattern or a stylish color-blocking design, these customized leggings will become a favorite pair for all fitness lovers. 

Learn more: How to start a fitness clothing line

Crossover leggings

Another go-to choice for workouts is our All-Over Print Recycled Crossover Leggings with Pockets. If you’re not sold by the name alone, let us tell you more.

Made from recycled mild-compression materials, these leggings offer a flattering, tight-fit look with a trendy crossover waistband. Additionally, this style has two side pockets on each side to carry valuables on the go.

Our crossover leggings also stand out with their inclusivity, coming in sizes 2XS–6XL (for exact measurements, look up the size guide). Doesn’t that sound like the perfect choice to offer your customers? 

Leggings with pockets

The All-Over Print Recycled Leggings with Pockets are the same as the previously mentioned crossover leggings, with the only difference being the waist cut. This legging style has a classic waistband, making it a timeless legging design that won’t go out of fashion and is suitable for everyone. 

All-over print leggings

If you’re in search of everyday leggings, go for the All-Over Print Leggings. They’re made of soft and stretchy material, offering comfort while working out or going about your everyday life. This style comes in full length that ends right above the ankle, as well as in a capri version, ending in the mid-calf area. 

There are no rules when designing all-over print leggings. Whether minimalistic designs or bold patterns, the results are fantastic, which shows in a 4.5-star rating from our customers. 

Flare leggings

Our newest legging addition to our catalog is the trendy All-Over Print Flare Leggings. These leggings perfectly combine comfort with fashion, making them ideal for a yoga class or other physical activities, as well as for casual everyday wear. 

These leggings stand out with flare ends that add a unique and stylish appearance. Made of stretchy and durable materials, our flare leggings are a must-have for both your wardrobe and online clothing store.

Available in sizes 2XS–6XL, they cater to a wide range of individuals. Design them with an eye-catching pattern or choose a single color with detailed designs. 

Step 2: Research legging design trends

Like any other garment, legging designs are influenced by fashion trends. When choosing designs for your own leggings, you should aim to offer your customers fashionable options. Let’s look into some popular design examples. 

Color-blocking

Color-blocking designs have been around for a while. It’s a timeless design choice both in casual and athleisure wear. Color-blocking designs are easy to create and they’re a safe choice when choosing designs for custom-printed leggings. Pick colors that are in-trend this season and create eye-catching designs. 

Patterns

Pattern designs are a form of art. They adapt to various style preferences, making them a fantastic choice if you’re catering to a wider audience. From minimalistic polka dots to bold florals and animal prints, they transform a simple garment into a statement piece. Either for gym or daily wear, pattern designs are multifunctional and can create a fashionable look, especially when worn in matching sets with a sports bra. 

According to the 2024 print trend forecast, various animal prints, minimal dots, and colorful ice dye patterns are some of the designs you might want to consider for creating trendy custom-printed leggings. 

Text designs 

Various typography designs are another popular legging design idea. If you want to design minimalistic single-tone leggings, this is the perfect design choice for you. 

Text designs are also great when creating personalized leggings with your brand logo. Either on the side of the leg, on the back of the waist, or in an all-over print, these designs will elegantly represent your brand and create a sleek look. 

Step 3: Select your design software

After researching various legging styles and design trends, it’s time to select your design software. Nowadays, there are different online tools available to create your own designs. For example, Adobe Photoshop is an amazing software program for print designing. But it requires a skill set to effectively use all of its features, and it’s a paid subscription platform. 

However, to create professional designs for custom-printed leggings or other garments, you don’t need expensive professional-grade tools. Online platforms like Canva, Stencil, and Printful’s Design Maker can be used for free to create designs.

To choose the right platform, it’s important to test them out and see what each of them offers. In the next steps, you’ll see how to design leggings using Printful’s Design Maker. 

Step 4: Check file guidelines 

When choosing leggings from our catalog, you can always find the file guidelines for each product next to the product description. There, you’ll find downloadable print file templates with all the tips, must-follow guidelines, and disclaimers to achieve the best results.

 
All of our leggings are made using the cut & sew sublimation technique. This means—the fabric is printed with your custom design, then cut and sewn into the style you’ve ordered. 

Step 5: Create designs

After reviewing the file guidelines for your chosen products, you can start using the Design Maker. You’ll need to create a free account and log in to design your first products and save templates. Once you’ve done that, press Product templates at the left side of your Printful Dashboard and then click Create Product. 

Type “leggings” in the search bar and select the style you prefer. Once you’ve done that, click Start designing.

Yay! You’ve reached the first steps to create your own custom leggings. Start by choosing the product sizes and stitch colors, as well as whether to add an inside pocket.

After that, you can upload your own files following the file guidelines or use other elements, like ready-made pattern prints available in the Design Maker. 

If you choose ready-to-use designs from our offering, you can customize them to your own liking by changing the colors and managing other elements, like adding text. In this step, you can experiment with the Design Maker tools and features to get a hold of it. 

While designing, you can always check how your design will look on the finished product by clicking Mockups in the upper right corner. 

Once you’re happy with your design, click Save Template. Then you’ll be brought back to the Dashboard, where you’ll find all your product templates. 

For extra help with the designing process, watch these tutorials:

Step 6: Make mockups

After selecting your finished template, you can choose to order, add it to your store, or download mockups.

The mockups demonstrate your product designs. You can use these images on your online store’s website, Etsy storefront, or other ecommerce platforms. For example, by choosing Basic mockups you can select and download a variety of ready-made mockups with your custom legging design. 

Step 7: Order samples

The hardest part is over! Now, after you’ve finished designing and are happy with the end result, you can make an order for yourself. If you’re a dropshipping business owner, push it to your online store and offer the customized leggings to your customers.

You don’t need to order full stock, as all our products are fulfilled on demand after receiving an order from your store. However, ordering samples is a smart step to make sure the fulfilled product meets your expectations.

As an online store owner, you qualify for sample orders—one product a month with a 20% discount. Sample orders allow you to test the quality of the printed leggings and offer you the chance to make original content for your ecommerce store and social media platforms. 

Source: Printful customer reviews

Ready, set, go!

See? Designing your own custom leggings isn’t that hard. Hopefully, this article answers all your questions about designing custom-printed leggings. If not—you can always reach out to our customer service for support.

May your designs turn out wonderful!