Sewing for success

July 25th, 2012Blog0 comments

Caitlin Fikes, VIMS REU student

by Caitlin Fikes (VIMS summer 2012 REU student)

Of all the skills I didn’t expect to learn this summer, sewing is definitely top of the list.

As a child, I envied my brothers who were in the Boy Scouts, the American association that teaches young boys and men leadership skills and about the natural world. They got to go hiking and kayaking and learn about animals and the wilderness. I also wanted to make plaster pawprints and carve small wooden boats and learn survival skills, so  I decided to try the next best thing, the Girl Scouts. I think my membership in the Girl Scouts lasted for about two months, at most. The boys got to be Bears and Cubs, while we were Brownies and Daisies.  And instead of fun skills like archery or campfire-making, in my local troop we were expected to learn cooking and sewing. This was not for me!

REU Caitlin learns how to sew in order to make experimental materials for the ZEN project

It seems ironic that in my pursuit of a historically “masculine” scientific career, I now find myself required to learn what once would have been casually termed a “feminine” skill. Being a scientist, as I recently discovered, also means being a plumber, an engineer, and always a hard worker. Of the many skills needed to construct the equipment for an experiment, here at VIMS sewing is a common requirement. Last week I was taught this skill by a man, our lab manager Paul Richardson, who can sew neater stiches than anyone I know. In science, Paul has remarked, you have to be a Renaissance person with a diverse skillset and an open mind.

What surprised me was not that I had to learn this skill, but that I truly enjoy sewing and apparently have an aptitude for it. After a full day of doing nothing but sewing mesh bags to be used in a field experiment, I was very pleased to see that my lines were getting straighter, and overall I was gaining confidence. I was actually having fun. I reflected that perhaps I should have stayed in Girl Scouts – I might have become a pretty good seamstress by now. Expanding my list of skills is always a good thing, and if not for this summer I might have forever missed out on a skill that I both enjoy and could be good at. Additionally, as a twenty-year-old college student struggling daily to feed myself, I deeply regret not learning how to cook.

Caitlin says her first craft project will look like this, except blue. And with angry eyes.

Aside from making experimental materials, what other opportunities will I have to use this new needle-and-thread skill? After a quick Google search, I think my next challenge will be to sew my own stuffed animal sea creatures. To the left see one pattern I found online – it looks fairly simple and I firmly believe that you can never own too many cute marine animal paraphernalia.