Behind the Seams with summer intern Stephanie Flint

Hi! I'm Stephanie, a senior at Butler University and the Human Resources intern in the Fort Wayne office. As long as I can remember, I have enjoyed collecting Vera Bradley, and I am extremely excited about this summer. Check back to follow what's happening behind the seams at Vera Bradley!

Monday, August 1, 2011

I feel like a Sewing Superstar ...

Last week, the interns took a trip to Adams Center Road, our manufacturing facility, and we learned all about the manufacturing processes for our products. I have really enjoyed all our other intern programs so far, however, this one is my favorite one yet. This is because not only did we learn about things like lean manufacturing, 5S and product flow (my Operations Management professor would be so proud that I put my knowledge to use), we also had the opportunity to do some hands-on learning, by sewing our very own Coin Purse. I’m not the most experienced sewer (or experienced at all), but I still would like to think that I did a pretty decent job on my own coin purse…

Me, sewing the zipper onto the Coin Purse.



The finished product … a Riviera Blue Coin Purse.



Since we are not all experienced sewers, like my roommate Kelley (she was a fashion design major in school), this little project was rather challenging for most of us. We fortunately had someone with us to help us along every step of the way, because the process of completing each individual step is extremely detail-oriented, down to having parts measured to the 1/16th of an inch. Everyone tried their very best,, and in the end we had made 18 Coin Purses, some of which were high quality, and some that might not meet the quality standards that all of our products have to meet (don’t worry interns, I won’t call you out if this was you). Mine was pretty close to perfect, with only a few minor errors, so I’m sure that if I had the chance to do it again, I could make it absolutely flawless.



Alicia, one of the intern coordinators, also had the chance to make a Coin Purse!



A few of the male interns showing off their own sewing skills.



All of the interns with our Coin Purses.

4 comments:

  1. Wow such an awesome experience. It is interesting how a little purse has so much hard work behind it. You proved to be a great sewer, your coin purse looks perfect!

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  2. Lenny PepperbottomAugust 2, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    That's pretty neat!!

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  3. Coin Purse is the first step in the training lines.

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