You sit down at your computer and start browsing patterns and you find one that you just love. You click the listing and love all the features but one. It has a zipper and you either dislike or haven’t tried to sew a zipper yet and aren’t ready to try. You love buttons though.
Today I’m going to show you how to hack a zipper pattern to have a button closure instead.
I’m using the Thistleberry Dress pattern in this tutorial. There are 2 main things we will be changing: The back bodice, and the back skirt. We will be cutting out one additional piece not included in the pattern.
Additional supplies needed: (follow your pattern instructions for all other supplies, omitting the zipper.)
- 3 or 4 1/2” (1.2cm) buttons
- Fusible interfacing.
1. First off you need to establish what the center back seam allowance is. For Thistleberry it is .” (1.2cm) . I want to have a 1” (2.5 cm) seam allowance total so I’m going to add .”
(1.2cm) to the center back edge. The pattern says to cut 4 back bodice pieces so I’m going to still do that.
Tip: I like using 21” (53.35cm) width medical table paper from Amazon for pattern drafting. This makes hacking patterns and grading between sizes easier.
2. Next we are going to cut out and prepare the skirt placket. This piece is not included in a pattern with a zipper closure so we need to draft our own. For all sizes, cut a 3”x8”
(7.62cm x 20.32cm) out of the main fabric.
3. Fold skirt placket in half, wrong sides touching, and press. Open. Fold over one of the long edges .” (.64cm) with the wrong sides touching. Set aside.
4. Now when cutting the skirt pieces out it is important to NOT cut the back skirt in half. We need the back skirt piece to be in one piece. Cut the front piece out as pattern instructs.
5. Cut all other pattern pieces out according to the pattern instructions.
6. Constructing the back skirt piece.
Fold the back skirt in half. Press. This makes a memory crease. Open up the back skirt. Measure down 3” (7.6 cm) from the center back, using the crease we made as a guide. Mark. Cut down to that mark.
7. Open the cut edge to create a straight edge at the bottom.
8. Place the unfolded long edge of the placket along the straight edge you just created. The right side of the placket should be facing the wrong side of the skirt. Pin in place.
9. Sew the placket to the skirt using a smaller stitch length and a 1/8” (3mm) seam allowance.
10. Fold the placket over, just enough to cover the stitching. Edge stitch the placket 1/8”
(3mm) away from the folded line.
11. Trim any excess from both ends of the placket.
12. Fold the back skirt in half, right sides together. Using a straight stitch, sew a diagonal stitch from the bottom outer corner of the placket up to the center back of the skirt. Open skirt so the right side of fabric is facing down.
13. Fold the right side (wearer’s left) of the placket towards the skirt, wrong sides together.
Baste in place.
14. Cut 2 pieces of interfacing at 1” (2.5cm) width x length of bodice. Apply interfacing to the 2 main back bodice pieces.
15. Follow instructions from your pattern for sewing the bodice together. * If adding a collar, make sure to place the back edge of collar ⅝” (1.59cm) away from back edge of bodice.
16. When sewing the neckline make sure to also sew the center back edge of the bodice. This creates our button placket. Clip corners.
17. Continue to follow instructions on your pattern to finish bodice.
18. When your bodice is right side out, add button holes to the wearers left side of the bodice back starting .” (1.2cm) from top and ending 1” (2.5cm) from the bottom raw edge.
Note: I spaced my buttons 2 .” (5.72cm) apart and made my button holes horizontal because this is the direction of the greatest pull when worn and won't unbutton itself. However vertical buttons are easier to button, so it’s up to you on the direction and spacing.
19. Sew the buttons onto the right side of the bodice.
20. Sew skirts together at side seams. Gather the top edge from the center back placket on one side to the other side.
21. Follow the rest of the instructions on the sewing pattern you are using.
Congratulations! You have now hacked that zipper pattern you always wanted to sew to have buttons! I hope you enjoyed this pattern hack.
