From a pattern perspective, these two vests are identical. Both are based on a roughly mid-18th century pattern for Americans of European descent, made in linen rather than cotton (although lined with modern prints rather than historic ones — and while both are constellation patterns, only one glows in the dark). 

And yet. And yet, what a difference a year makes.

My process photos show that the vest on the right side of the photo (your right), was completed on December 16th, 2023… and begun on December 13. The blue vest was completed in time for me to wear it to Christmas dinner in December 2022 with my wife’s family. In other words, nearly a year of other, smaller projects lies between the one and the other; and nearly a year of YouTube video tutorials, TikTok clips, Instagram reels — and of course, conversations with other sewists I know in person!

And I can see my improvements.

It’s sort of an exaggeration to say I made the whole of the red vest in three days, because I was also writing a column and working on poems and doing my Christmas shopping, and so on. It was, as they say, a rush job squeezed in between a good many other rush projects. And yet, it’s a lot better made, which can be attributed to a number of factors. Some of these began with the layout of the shapes on the fabric right on the cutting table.

• pre-washing and ironing the fabric
• making a pattern on butcher paper for a sharper chalk line
• weighting the pattern pieces on top of the fabric to prevent slippage
• chalking the designs onto the fabric, then lifting the pattern and cutting the chalk lines
• sharpening the chalk edge before chalking
• including tabs for the various pattern marks
• putting tailor’s ties into each piece to mark important indicator spots

And these continued with steps along the process of sewing the pieces together.

• hand basting of the linen interlining to the shell panels, with the two panels both flat together on the table
• cutting the lining panels on the same pattern, in the same way as above
• basting the position of the darts and pockets
• understitching the seam allowances in many cases
• under-trimming many seam allowances and allowing some bulk
• ironing and pressing
• steam-pressing panels before assembly
• top-stitching the armscyes and neck and button lines before attaching buttons or sewing buttonholes
• making and cutting buttonholes before sewing buttonholes
• chalking on the centerlines as a guide to positioning both buttonholes and buttons…

Wow, the list just goes on and on and on and on…

I could probably name another twenty-five things that make the red vest fundamentally better than the blue one. It’s not even that the blue vest is bad, either. It’s just that there’s an accumulation of technique and trickery and artisanship present in the sewing on the right hand side that wasn’t yet present in the original. In the intervening twelve months, too… I made my first pattern from scratch (a pair of pants), finished making four shirts, exercised my skills as a bag designer and made a half-dozen bags or baskets or pouches, sewed a couple of quilts, and did a bunch of other projects. So… yeah… I got better.

If you follow me, you know that most of the time I write about astrology, or magic. I used to write about teaching, too, reflecting on my practice. For a long while, five years, it was writing about my tai chi practice every day. More recently it’s been sewing alongside the magic and astrology.

But underlying all those things, is this simple truth: what is practiced, becomes better. And more practice at more kinds of projects, with daring and courage no matter your skill level, yields more and better results in the long run than perfect effort on a single project.

Begin. Begin anywhere. Make craft, or artisanship, a part of your magical practice, and your ability to create real, transformative results, will grow by magnitudes.