Polène Cyme Mini in camel textured leather | Polène Crossbody Wallet in camel textured leather
The Polène Cyme Mini is a tote bag that can be hand carried using the shorter handles or it can be worn on the shoulder with the longer handles. The Cyme Mini comes with a convenient and removable matching wristlet. The Cyme Mini is lightweight and it’s a good size for everyday essentials with room for a small water bottle and/or a small makeup bag. The Cyme Mini does not fit a 13″ laptop unlike the larger size (if you’re considering the larger Cyme I found this YouTube review to be very informative).
As a dog mom I prefer crossbody bags so that both of my hands are free since we often bring Ralphie everywhere with us. I’ve purchased and resold a few Polène Paris bags on Poshmark and I wasn’t reaching for the Cyme Mini a lot as a tote bag despite purchasing it back in November 2021. I love the aesthetics of the Cyme Mini and I’ll be reaching for it more often going forward now that I’ve converted it into a crossbody as shown in this video tutorial:
In order to convert the Cyme Mini into a crossbody bag I used the removable strap from the Polène crossbody wallet. By default the strap has a maximum total length of 39″ (for a 19.5″ drop) so I made 4 extra holes in the strap since I’m petite (5′ 2.5″). At the end of the video I am carrying the Cyme Mini in the newly converted crossbody style with a 36″ strap length (for a 18″ drop). The fourth (and last) hole I made in the video allows me to carry the bag with a 35″ strap length (for a 17.5″ drop).
For a more affordable crossbody strap you can try using a guitar crossbody strap and you do not need additional d-rings either. The crossbody strap I used in the above video is borrowed from an old Zara bag (reviewed in this old blog post). However, the canvas strap is not adjustable and it’s wider (1.5 inches) and longer than I prefer (42.5″ total length end to end including the gold clasps for a 21.25″ drop) so the bag sat lower on the hip.
I decided to use the removable strap from the Polène crossbody wallet to match the Cyme Mini since both styles are available in camel textured leather. Note that the strap from the crossbody wallet is 8 millimeters which is thinner than the double set of straps for the Cyme Mini which are 13 millimeters. I find the shortest set of straps (meant for hand carrying the bag) a bit bothersome so I tucked them inside for a cleaner aesthetic as pictured above.
$19.99 – Sincerely Jules lemon print dress – recent in store find at T.J. Maxx | Jack Rogers Savannah Sandals (true to size)
The Cyme Mini is not advertised nor intended to be used as a crossbody so I would be mindful not to overload the bag in case the extra weight stretches out the thin strap. I noticed that if I put more things inside the bag then the magnetic snaps are not strong enough to keep the sides folded together.
Affiliate links for the tools I used in the tutorial:
3/8 inch Mini Gold D-rings, set of 5 (exact)
Leather Hole Puncher (exact)
Olfa Touch Knife (exact)
Dry Erase Pens (similar)
Clover Tape Measure (exact)
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