DIY Embellished Tights / Leggings

If you like dancing in a skirt with slits, why not glam up your legs too! 😉

This type of sparkly leggings aren’t just reserved for expensive designer costumes. You can create this look yourself!

In this video, you can see how to create these embellished tights and leggings. Let’s get started!

Click here to make your own bodystocking with leggings!

To make these DIY embellished tights or leggings, you need:

A pair of mesh leggings – You can use leggings or tights, but I think leggings are more common for belly dancers. These leggings are actually from my upcoming Mirage Bodystocking course which I’m super excited about. Yes, you can make your own! Check out SparklyBelly.com/BodyStocking

Decorative items – For this one, I’ll be using these lace motifs and some rhinestones and beads. And you need rhinestone glue.

Some cardboard

(a bunch of) Safety pins

Matching color thread – you can match the color of your thread to the decoration items you’re using.

How to Make DIY Embellished Tights / Leggings

First put on the leggings and the skirt you want to pair the leggings with, and see where you want large motifs. It’s important to plan with your skirt on, so you can really see which part of the leggings are actually visible. For these, I’ll be decorating one leg only, since only this side will be visible in this costume.

For large appliques, you can use safety pins to place them exactly where you want them. I’ve indicated the general flow of the embellishments with some more safety pins. Your leg could be seen not just from the front but sides too, so I recommend you extend the decoration to the sides of your legs too. 

Then, carefully take off the leggings.

Now I’ve decided I want to decorate the appliques with large stones and beads. So I first decorated them before attaching the motifs to the leggings.

Here, I’m just stitching the stones to the lace, not the leggings. The stitches on the inside of the leggings will be vulnerable because they can be pulled and broken as you put on and take off the leggings, so if you’re doing beadwork, it’s better to do so before you attach the motifs to the leggings.

This way the beading stitches will be protected by the layer of leggings. You can glue on rhinestones afterwards. 

Next, cut cardboard into a rectangle that’s a few cm wider than your leggings. I cut 2 pieces here. The larger one is slightly wider than the top part of my leggings, and the smaller one for the bottom part. And cut corners round. This makes inserting and moving the cardboard inside the leggings easier. 

Insert the cardboard into the leg that you want to decorate and make sure it’s stretched comfortably. This way you can make sure the leggings will remain stretchy after you sew on your trimmings. Stretch the leggings vertically as well so the motifs lay flat.

Clips like these are very useful here. (My favorite clips are listed here!)

Take your threaded needle, and start stitching around the edges of the lace motif. You can do a simple whip stitch or running stitch. Keep the stitch length small so you won’t end up with long loose stitches on the wrong side when you remove the cardboard. And move the cardboard as you go.

Once the large motifs are applied, you can sew on or glue on small rhinestones. If you’re sewing on stones, make sure to tie good knots, cut the thread and re-start at each stone especially if the stones are going to be scattered. This way you can avoid long loose threads on the wrong side of the leggings. 

Make sure to keep shifting the cardboard so you won’t glue the front and back sides of the leggings together!

And your embellished leggings are complete! It takes some time, but it’s very straight forward, and best of all, it’s super fun to have sparkly legs to show off from a slit of your skirt! It really glams up your costume.

I personally LOVE the beaded tassels that swing as I move my leg!

Of course, the leggings and the skirt are separate, so you can wear these leggings with other costumes as well. 🙂

If you have a bodystocking like mine, you can also decorate the rest of it in the same way. This one is actually a belly cover and leggings in one, so I plan to decorate the belly cover part with the same lace motifs. 

Again, if you want to make bodystockings like this one to wear under your dance costumes, check out SparklyBelly.com/BodyStocking. You’ll be able to make a version with or without sleeves, and lots of other styles!

This course has been VERY popular, and new lessons have been added! Now you can use the Mirage Bodystocking pattern to create an entire dress called the Mirage Dress inside the course!

Click here to start making your very own bodystockings!

Hope you liked this embellished legging tutorial, and if you did, please share this tutorial with your dancer friends! 

And if you want to create more belly dance costuming bits, join my free email course, Belly Dance Costume Making 101 below and get lots of free beginner-friendly project ideas! 

Click here to join Belly Dance Costume Making 101!

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this image on your costume design board! 😉

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