Kudos for working so hard on side projects to prepare your ML career!

I think that's the way to go. If possible, try to get some feedback from experienced ML engineers on code quality, methodology and used libraries. Make sure to at least learn the basics of all the libraries that your potential employer could require.

If you can demonstrate your skills (perhaps in a live coding test), you can make it! I have colleagues who worked in the humanities before learning programming and becoming ML engineers, so it's possible :)