This isn't a simple project, but I wouldn't class it as advanced either. Sort of middle-grade. If you've never sewn anything before, take it slow and always double check before you cut anything. The number one rule of sewing is the same as carpentry: measure twice, cut once.
With any makeover, it's a good idea to know what you want the end result to look like. Unless you've been sewing for years, or are really good with visualisation, find a picture or real world example that you can use to check your progress. I've already got an A-line dress that I love so I'm going to try and use it as a template.
This:
Into something like this:
IMPORTANT:
You should make sure before you do anything that the jacket is long enough. The original jacket I purchased for this project was a bit too short, so I went back out and spent another whopping £3.50 on a longer one. If I had tried it on in the shop, I wouldn't have needed to do this.
Compare:
Neither jacket is long enough as it is, but the three or four inches extra on the second one will make the difference between something I will be comfortable wearing and something that will have me tugging at the hem all the time. This is going to be a personal choice. I prefer longer. You will be able to add a few inches to the length in the reconstruction, but when in doubt, and if possible, get one that is longer than you are aiming for.
Okay, here we go.
For stage one you will need a seam ripper, a pair of scissors, a suit jacket and a glass of wine (optional). I estimate that this first stage will take about an hour, longer if you haven't used a seam ripper before.
The first step is to take your raw materials and break them down into their component parts.
Step One: Using the seam ripper, take the sleeves and the collar off the jacket. If the jacket has shoulder pads sewn in, take those out too. Remove any buttons. The collar of the jacket probably has a felt backing, make sure that you take this off the jacket along with the collar. It doesn't matter if you manage to do this all in one piece or not as long as all of the neck area is clear.
Set the sleeves, buttons and collar aside for now. You will be using them later.
Step Two: Using the seam ripper, open up the shoulder seams of the jacket and trim any excess lining to match the outer layer. You can throw these extra bits away.
Check to make sure that you have removed all of the felt padding in the shoulders. When you have opened the seams and trimmed all the excess you should have something that looks like this:
That's pretty much it for Stage One. You can leave the side seams and the rest of the lining intact. (Told you it wasn't going to be too difficult.)
One other note:
Men's suit jackets tend to have an inner-lining and, for lack of a better term, what I'll call the normal-lining ( I was going to call it the main-lining, but it sounded weird). Most jackets only have an inner-lining at the front. It's a loosely woven starched fabric that helps keep the jacket looking sharp. You can leave this in if you want. It isn't going to make your job any more difficult later and it will help give the finished dress more structure. If you don't want to leave it in, I would suggest very carefully cutting it out, staying as close to the seam between the outer fabric and the normal-lining as you can. It will be much more hassle to un-pick the stitching, pull out the inner-lining and then re-sew the lining onto the outer layer later.
In Stage Two we'll be measuring and cutting.
In Stage Three we'll be sewing everything together.
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