Last fall a coworker of mine had a Miche party. If you don’t know what a Miche bag is, it’s a line of handbags that come with a “base” purse and interchangeable covers:
My purse-wearing style mirrors my shoe-wearing style: I’m a seasonal buyer and I will use a purse until it’s dead or too winter/summery. A Miche bag seemed to be a great idea for me. When I bought my demi size, I only bought one cover, which I still love. A couple of months ago, my step-mother-in-law (SMIL) became a fan of the Miche bag after seeing mine and got her own.
I have kept my eye out for the new cover styles that Miche releases and I haven’t been in love with anything enough to buy it. And the calendar tells me it’s Spring and that means it’s time for an update! I thought to myself, “I wonder how I would go about making my own cover?” and the wheels began to turn.
At first I thought maybe I could do a crash-and-burn 1 minute cover by simply safety pinning some fabric around my current cover. Then I had visions of walking across the street to work and my purse falling apart, because maybe the safety pins would negate the magnet used to hold the cover to the base? I decided to consult my SMIL because she is an amazing seamstress and we both thought what a genius idea!! Make your OWN Miche cover!
Then I thought “Someone has HAD to have thought of this before, right?” A quick trip down the Google highway and there it was at Make It Sparkly Mama!’s blog:
Dang it! I can never have an original idea.
I quickly forwarded the link to my SMIL. We were both excited to give it a try over the weekend. But I had 4 other projects to work on first (baby nursery artwork, bridesmaid earrings, card box, being a mommy) so I didn’t get to it. However, SMIL is an amazingly creative and crafty woman herself. She’s rather handy around a sewing machine too, so it’s no surprise that she whipped up three different versions for her Miche bag:
This one is my favorite:
DIY Version #1:
She said that she glanced at the tutorial but kind of did her own thing. Cut out a piece of card board, using your original cover as a template for the shape. Then hot glue your fabric around into the inside. SMIL also got fancy swapping out the handles, using 2 different layers of fabrics, and adding stitching around the edges – sewing right through the cardboard! This is a fun, spring version:
The only problem she ran into was finding magnets that were strong enough and thin enough that the cover wouldn’t be sticking out too far from the base. The jury’s still out on where to find the perfect magnets.
DIY Version #2:
I finally got a chance to try my own version, and instead of making a whole new cover, I covered my cover! Does that makes sense?
Essentially, I made a pillow sham for my cover, using my existing cover as a template. After 2 versions, I think I have the hang of it. They are totally imperfect up close but look great if you don’t inspect the sewing job! You definitely need to give yourself a little wiggle room (about a quarter inch around from the template you draw), as you have to shimmy your actual cover into the “sham”.
They are totally not perfect…but I’m hoping I’ll get more inspiration to get better and better at this!
What do you think? Are you a Miche fan? Are you willing to DIY your Miche cover?
PS. I picked a winner from last week’s drawing and I emailed you – I will wait for confirmation before I announce it! So check your email folks!
Mac’s hardware carries small, very strong magnets. They are about the size of a watch battery. I can’t remember what they are called. They are about $5.99 for 10 magnets I think.
Can you make a miche demi bag cover pattern? I NEED one.
That would be an awesome idea! The only problem I can see is that the shape of the shells are different depending on the size base you have. If you look at the difference between my version and my mother-in-law’s, mine “swoops” down in the middle and hers swoops up.
If you look up “envelope pillow pattern” it would essentially be the same thing I did, except I traced the outline of my existing cover to match that swooping part and then sewed the cover 1/4″ outside of that line to create a little wiggle room. I hope that helps!