DIY Painted Leggings: St. Patrick’s Day Edition!

I love seasonal clothing, but those cute holiday leggings always seem to be too expensive or the wrong fit! After much thought, I discovered a way to paint my own! Humble stretchy pants, prepare to become fabulous!

I began by making my own stamp for fabric paint. I collected some sticky-backed foam hearts and craft foam from the kids’ section at the craft store. A plastic lid become the stamp’s base, with my trusty E6000 glue to hold it all together.

I choose a shamrock design in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day! (Check here and here for more homemade stamp ideas!) The foam hearts became leaves, while small slivers of foam became the stem. I used 2 of each shape stacked on top of each other to create the shamrock shape. (A thicker shape would be easier to paint accurately on the future stamp.) The picture shows the first layer of the shamrock glued to the lid.

I glued the second layer of shapes onto the lid and let the glue dry. I placed a plate (protected by foil) on top of the stamp to prevent the foam shapes from curling while drying. I waited at least an hour before using the stamp.

With my stamp ready, I got out my handy Tulip Soft paint and craft paint brushes.

I purposely did not mix a custom color of paint for this project. I didn’t know how much paint I would need or how long the project would take!

It’s always wise to do your first stamp on paper towel as a test!

Time to prepare those leggings! Since stretchy pants stretch when worn, I needed to stretch the fabric before painting it. After much pondering, I discovered the perfect stuffing- toilet paper rolls! I purchases two sizes of rolls and used whatever size fit best in the legs of the pants.

Pants + toilet paper rolls!

Time to begin painting!

Working from the bottom of the leg, I stamped 2-3 shamrocks on one leg then did a similar pattern on the other. I tried to space the shamrocks relatively evenly on the front as well as the sides of the legs. I then let the front of the pants dry for at least half an hour.

Once the front was dry, I turned the pants over and continued the pattern on the back. I let the paint dry at least over night before styling my new fancy pants! (Note about laundering: wash and dry the leggings on cold or hand wash to protect the paint.)

Ta-DA! I wore my new leggins on a pre-Saint-Patrick’s-Day date night! I paired them with a chambray tunic, wedge heels, and an olive-green jacket.

I discovered that I didn’t have any matching jewelry- oh no! So, I followed the tutorial from this post for making a coordinating statement necklace! Check this post to see how to make shamrock earrings!

We went in search of food!

*Bonus Project*! A great way to use extra paint (and that adorable stamp you worked hard on) is to stamp some blank cards and envelopes! What a fun way to make seasonal cards! Check out my favorite heart stamped cards in this post!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, Everyone! Stay crafty! 🙂