Here’s How I Made My Own Chanel Bag in Paris
In 2017 I went to Paris the week before I launched my career in retail. Now here we are 9 years later, I finally have my own department as a Beauty Buyer, and I’m back in Paris! Since this was my second time in the city of lights, I knew I wanted the trip to revolve around fashion more than site seeing. But, since our trip didn’t align with Paris Fashion Week I had to get creative. I was at a vendor dinner in Florida talking to millionaires about my little trip when my boss told me about MiniMeParis. Immediately I knew I was going!
I was going to not only make a Chanel purse but, I would get to keep a custom designer-style bag! What an ideal souvenir!
I got to MiniMeParis for the morning session promptly at 9am with a chocolate croissant in my belly, a pistachio one in my hand, and no purse. That way, I could transfer all the items weighing down my husband's shorts to my new couture creation! I wore a black and pink tweed vest with Victorian looking buttons hoping to match some of the fabrics I would get to look through. I paired it with a black skort, a polka dot fabric swatch around my neck, cosmopolitan earrings, and like all designers do - hair piled on top of my head. When it comes to my outfits, there are no accidents. But this blog has been around for 7 years, so you know that by now.
With a multitude of experience developing products at work, I’ve never officially been the designer due to not knowing how to sew. I was excited to get into the driver’s seat! To my delight I was in an almost private workshop with just one other French-Canadian making a tote.
The Shop: The store was moderately sized but maximized its space with jewelry, bags, and clothing examples made by the instructors in a shop in the front, graffiti on all walls, chatsks in every corner, and workshop rooms off to the sides. In addition to the bags you could also make a hoodie, jean jacket, fedora, charm jewelry, or keychains. Instantly I had a shoppers high - there was just so much to look at!
Bag Size & Style: Included in what you prepaid online were an XS or S flap over purse, or tote bag. You could upgrade to a M or L purse but they were so big, more like the size of a diaper bag or overnighter. I went with the small because it was the best value and fit everything I needed to go in there! (And yes, I did throw my phone into the example purses and proceeded to lose it.) You also had to decide if you wanted a soft or hard bag. I went in thinking I wanted a hard bag because I thought it would be more structured - the classic Chanel look. However, making the hard bag takes 4 hours instead of 3 due to the glue drying time and was not recommended for first timers. They had examples to show all the bag sizes and styles and the soft v. hard didn’t look that different so, soft it was!
You also got to pick your bag's liner and whether you wanted a zipper in the liner, on the outside of the bag, or no zipper at all. I went for the most functional option of zipper in the liner. I went with a liner that didn’t necessarily match the color scheme of the outside of my bag. I love that when you open it up it's a whole different vibe with the white tweed top flap connecting it all. The liner I picked is a maximalist collage of different scenes from Paris on a dark (almost black) navy background.
Fabric Selection & Draping: Fabric selection was one of the longest parts of the process but my personal favorite because it was quintessentially: shopping! The fabrics were sorted by price point with the red hangers being the fabrics included and the blue and green hangers being newer or more speciality fabrics like metallic leathers, quilted denim, etc that were an extra charge. You can pick up to 4 different fabrics while, opting for only 2 would give you more of a classic look. I split the difference and picked 3.
In terms of color - there were two stories I was considering, both, I would get a lot of wear out of but, one was clearly more Whitney. A black and denim combo to highlight a red high heels fabric was option 1.
Option 2 was a cocktail of my go-to neutrals: pink/gold/tan/white. In my hunt, I quickly found the coolest rock n roll fabric featuring: motorcycles, race flags, flames, luchador masks, and more chaos all depicted in an ultra feminine gold glitter and Barbie pink fabric. It was just enough fabric to be featured on the front flap and back panel of my bag!
I played around with many other pink, gold, and white fabrics - draping them all over the sample bags to determine - not only which fabrics matched my rock n roll one the best but, which fabrics should go where. It's important to note that designing your own bag is not for those who suffer from decision fatigue and I’d gladly come with you to Paris to ensure your bag has that certain je ne sais quoi!
Why Chanel? Of course I asked the MiniMeParis staff how they had access to discarded designer fabrics! The owner of MiniMe was a former Chanel accessories designer, with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for upcycling. So not only can I say I made a Chanel bag, I can also say that I helped the fashion industry reduce waste! In addition to Chanel, they also had a plethora of YSL, Hermes, and Dior scarves that could be sewed into a side of the tote bag or made into a bag charm.
Cut & Sew: Once the fabric shopping was complete, it was time to get down to business with the ole cut n sew! Laying the fabric out flat, I pulled it towards the edge of my work table as I’d seen on Project Runway. To help guide a straight line, MiniMe gave me prototype swatches to the scale of each side of my small purse.
The fabric was then pressed by the shop in a steam machine which meant only one thing: time to sew!
Each fabric I had to sew twice with a pre-threaded sewing machine. Round one to make the raw hem no longer raw (Like people, tweeds have a tendency to unravel when not treated with the utmost respect.This I knew to be true.) Round two was to sew the soft cotton to the fabric. I failed so hard at sewing in Girl Scouts I had to switch to crocheting in order to get my badge so I was proud of my work at the sewing machine!
Straps & Footers: Next I had the easy choice between silver or gold footers. These were hammered into the bottom of my bag. Footers are a staple in Parisian purses in terms of aesthetics but also function - they keep the bag off of whatever surface it's on like risers on a dorm bed.
I went with one of the included strap options - the smaller link gold chain that I doubled up on. Having a bag with two chains allows me to wear it as a shoulder bag today or as a cross body bag whenever that comes back in vogue in years to come. For an additional fee you could put leather or a designer scarf through the chain links of your strap. I debated doing a light pink leather but figured my bag had enough going on with its one of a kind fabrics.
As I was doing the finishing touches, the MiniMe team was sewing together all my pillowy fabric pieces. They sewed it inside out and let me do the harder-than-it-looks honors of flipping the purse right side out for the grand reveal!
Accessories: I could have spent hours designing my own accessories for my purse. You could make your own keychains, bag charms, or beaded pins to make the bag even more you! They even had certified Chanel buttons! I went for a pearl and white leather non-Chanel button by the opening flap because I didn’t want it to look like a knock off. I also added a tiny W charm in the lower left corner for a final personal touch! I put it on this corner since I wear my bag most often on my right shoulder. I took my croissant hair clip out of my head and clipped it onto the chain of my new bag and voila! I immediately fell in love with my perfect Paris purse!
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