If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent your fair share of time in leggings. And by fair share I might mean close to 5 days a week. But who’s counting…

I do get dressed in real clothes too. Like when I go out to dinner, or meet a friend for lunch.

But most of the time, I’m working from home and heading to yoga almost daily. And I love (am obsessed with?) printed leggings.

So yeah, I spend a lot of time in leggings. (It’s not that I wear them as pants, it’s that I happen to spend a lot of my time in workout gear.)

But you know what’s interesting? I actually don’t own that many pairs.  Why? Because I’m really picky. I’m picky about fit. And fabric. And design.  I also live in a tiny NYC apartment (like 350 sq ft tiny) with my husband. And a dog. And a cat. Four of us in 350sf makes for a real cozy home, and a cozy home means I only keep things around that I absolutely love.

I’ve yet to discover a ton of printed leggings that fit my picky criteria. Given that I’m a fashion designer, it’s safe to assume that I’ve thought about designing and making my own…complete with the perfect fabric, the perfect fit, and the perfect design.

But for any of you who have ever tried to design and manufacture anything, you know that it can be a lot of work, and a lot of money. Not to mention it takes forever.

Enter Bombsheller. (Hint: if you do want to buy something, use code SewHeidi for 10% off your first purchase.)

They’re a super bad a$$ company that lets you design any pair of leggings your heart desires, and then each pair is printed, cut and sewn, and delivered to your doorstep in one week. In other words, made to order leggings. No inventory, no minimums, no waste. You design the perfect pair, set the price, order them for yourself (you don’t have to, but how could you not?), and then share with your friends so they can buy them too (again, they don’t have to, but how could they not?). And guess what? I can testify that the fabric is perfect and the fit is perfect. I’ve been loving this pair for over a year now and they’re still one of my faves. The design? Well, that’s where the fun begins – that’s where it’s up to you.

So we started talking and we decided it would be fun to collaborate. I would document my design process and together we’d deliver you a bad a$$ pair of leggings along with some cool Illustrator tricks that you can use to design your own pair.

First, let me share my design with you – it’s inspired by a photo of the Manhattan Bridge I captured a few months ago. I’ve always loved spending time on this bridge. I’ve walked across it many times and have sat on the edge of the East River and gotten lost in the beauty of its lights at night (I’ve also almost gotten knocked of my bike more than a few times riding across). It holds a sweet spot in my heart, so it only made sense to base my design off that photo.

Now that you’ve seen my design, I want to show you the cool trick that I used to speed up the process of picking the color palette. There’s a lesser known feature in Illustrator called Live Color, and within that is an even lesser known feature that allows you to lock harmonious colors. It’s an unbelievable shortcut to create awesome color palettes in a matter of minutes.

Now here’s what I want you to do:

1. Watch the video tutorial to learn how to color multi-colored artwork in Illustrator.
2. Check out Bombsheller and design yourself a pair of bada$$ leggings. It doesn’t cost a penny, and every time a pair sells – you get paid. That’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Oh, and when you see a pair you just can’t live without, use code “SewHeidi” for 10% off your first purchase. You’re welcome for another pretty sweet deal.

Can’t wait to see your designs on Bombsheller next time I’m craving a pair of badass leggings.
This post represents my honest opinion on a product / service that I have first hand experience with and I am not being compensated in any way for this content. I do however receive compensation if you purchase a pair of leggings from Bombsheller with the code SewHeidi.

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