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Harvest Moon Dress Hack: add a full length button placket & more

Full-length button placket, two tiers instead of three, narrower neckband and cuffs.

Loïse wearing the Harvest Moon dress hack with full-length button placket in a floral midi length

I made this midi length Harvest Moon dress for the Holidays with a few easy hacks. I made the button placket full-length, I made 2 tiers instead of 3 (and with different proportions), and I made the neckband & the cuffs more narrow. I absolutely love how it turned out and if you decide to give these hacks a try, I hope you will too.

Buy the pattern here.

Side view of the Harvest Moon dress showing the full-length button placket The Harvest Moon dress made up in floral print fabric with knee-high boots Detail of the narrower neckband and bodice on the Harvest Moon dress hack

Trace & Cut the Tiers

These measurements are just based on my preference. If you'd like more gathers add some width to each tier and feel free to shorten or lengthen them as well. The gathered seam between the tiers falls approximately at the low hips.

For reference I am 1m64 / 5'4 and my measurements are 89-69-103 cm / 34-27-41". I wear a size 4/36.

Full-length button placket + 2 tiers skirt

Trace and cut your tiers based on the following measurements. The Front pieces each have 3.2 cm or 1 1/4" of added seam allowance, so the Front is 6.4 cm or 2 1/2" wider in total, compared to the Back.

Metric Measurements

Tier 1 length = 29.5 cm
Tier 2 length = 67 cm

WIDTHS

0/32 2/34 4/36 6/38 8/40 10/42
Tier 1 - Back 66 68 70 72 74 76
Tier 1 - Front x2 34.25 36.25 38.25 40.25 42.25 44.25
Tier 2 - Back 100 102 104 106 108 110
Tier 2 - Front x2 51.25 53.25 55.25 57.25 59.25 61.25
12/44 14/46 16/48 18/50 20/52 22/54 24/56
Tier 1 - Back 78 80 82 84 87 90 93
Tier 1 - Front x2 46.25 48.25 50.25 52.25 54.25 56.25 58.25
Tier 2 - Back 112 114 116 118 121 124 127
Tier 2 - Front x2 63.25 65.25 67.25 69.25 71.25 73.25 75.25

Imperial Measurements

Tier 1 length = 11 5/8 in
Tier 2 length = 26 3/8 in

WIDTHS

0/32 2/34 4/36 6/38 8/40 10/42
Tier 1 - Back 26 26 3/4 27 1/2 28 3/8 29 1/8 29 7/8
Tier 1 - Front x2 13 1/2 14 1/4 15 1/6 15 7/8 16 5/8 17 3/8
Tier 2 - Back 39 3/8 40 1/8 40 7/8 41 3/4 42 1/2 43 3/8
Tier 2 - Front x2 20 1/8 20 7/8 21 3/4 22 1/2 23 3/8 24 1/8
12/44 14/46 16/48 18/50 20/52 22/54 24/56
Tier 1 - Back 30 3/4 31 1/2 32 1/4 33 34 1/4 35 3/8 36 5/8
Tier 1 - Front x2 18 1/4 19 19 7/8 20 5/8 21 3/8 22 1/8 22 7/8
Tier 2 - Back 44 1/8 44 7/8 45 3/4 46 1/2 47 5/8 48 7/8 50
Tier 2 - Front x2 24 7/8 25 3/4 26 1/2 27 1/4 28 1/8 28 7/8 29 5/8

So for each tier, you'll have 1 Back & 2 Fronts that have added seam allowance for the button placket.

Narrower Neckband

  1. Cut the pattern as usual (x2 pieces).
  2. Remove 1 cm or 3/8" from the inner edge.
Modifying the neckband pattern piece to remove 1 cm from the inner edge
  1. Retrace the curve at the center fronts and cut.
Retracing the curve at the center fronts of the narrowed neckband pattern
The completed narrower neckband pattern piece

Narrower Band Cuffs

  1. Cut the pattern as usual (x2 pieces).
  2. Remove 2.5 cm or 1" from the short edge of the cuffs.
Modifying the cuff pattern piece by removing 2.5 cm from the short edge

Sewing Instructions

Green = wrong side / White = right side

  1. Start at Step 3: attach sleeves to Back and Front, gather shoulders, sew side seams, etc.
  2. For the drawstring waist: sew the drawstring's buttonholes now at 6.7 cm or 2 5/8" from center front raw edges instead of 3.5 cm or 1 3/8" (since we haven't sewn the button placket on the bodice yet).
    Diagram showing buttonhole position 6.7 cm from the center front raw edges for the drawstring waist
  3. Skip Step 4: don't sew the neckband yet.
  4. Go to Step 7: for each tier, sew both Fronts to their Back at the side seams, right sides together. Press seams open, then to the back. Finish the seams and press to the back.
    Diagram showing tier pieces with both fronts sewn to the back at the side seams
  5. Create 2 rows of basting stitches at the top of the tiers. I prefer to do separate ones for each panel (front, back, front). Start/Stop 5.7 cm or 2 1/4" from the center raw edges on the Front pieces to leave space without gathers for folding over the button placket.
    Diagram showing two rows of basting stitches across the top of each tier panel
  6. Mark 5.7 cm or 2 1/4" on the center raw edge of the bodice's Fronts.
  7. Pin Tier 1 to the bodice right sides together, matching center front marks and side seams.
    Diagram showing Tier 1 pinned to the bodice at the side seams and center fronts
  8. Gather tier to match the bodice's width.
    Diagram showing the tier gathered to match the bodice width
  9. Sew at required seam allowance: 1 cm or 3/8" for regular waist and 2.5 cm or 1" for drawstring waist.
  10. Remove basting stitches, finish seam, and press towards the top.
    Diagram showing the finished tier seam pressed towards the top
  11. For drawstring waist: create casing now as per instructions.
  12. Interface outer neckband as per instructions and the center raw edges on both Fronts for the full-length button placket.
    Interfacing applied to the center front raw edges for the full-length button placket
  13. Fold over button placket twice by pressing, once at 7 mm or 1/4" and the second time at 2.5 cm or 1". I like to mark these lines on the right side of my fabric first to guide me when folding over. Pin.
    Folding over the button placket by pressing at 7 mm
    The folded button placket pinned in place ready to edgestitch
  14. Edgestitch along both edges.
    Edgestitching along both edges of the folded button placket
  15. Sew regular round collar neckband as per instructions.
  16. Mark and sew buttonholes. I used 13 buttons, 6 cm or 2 3/8" apart (between bottoms of buttonholes).
  17. Proceed to step 9 to finish your dress.

And voilà! I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Feel free to reach out or comment below if you have any questions.

Loïse

Make it your own

If you make this hack, I'd love to see it. Tag me @goldandskyepatterns on Instagram so I can share your makes.

Get the Harvest Moon pattern here.

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Tutorial by Gold & Skye. Pattern available here.

Button placket Hacks Harvest Moon Pattern hack Tutorial

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