Lemolo Baggage

Maryanna Hoggatt at The Guardino Gallery

Lemolo Baggage — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:07:03 +0000

Maryanna Hoggatt at The Guardino Gallery

This will be a show not to be missed

Opening reception on January 26th 6-9pm, show runs through February 21st

See flyer for details

Free Shipping thru Dec. 31st

Lemolo Baggage — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:04:25 +0000

Now offering Free UPS Ground Shipping from lemolobaggage.com. Simply select FREE SHIPPING PROMO from the drop down menu at checkout. Offer good thru Dec. 31st, valid for Continental US addresses only.

Happy Holidays from Lemolo Baggage!

LEMOLOBAGGAGE.COM IS LIVE!!!

Lemolo Baggage — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:50:21 +0000

Check out the brand new Lemolo Baggage website! View LookBook, current bag line, and purchase online securely at www.lemolobaggage.com.

A HUGE thanks goes out to the beautiful and talented Maryanna Hoggatt and Jake Holloman for making the website and LookBook adventures all come together with such style and grace. See their independent and collaborative work at the following addresses…

http://littlewolfblog.com/

http://micronhero.com/

http://www.eagleandwolf.net/

The beautiful imagery captured in the Lemolo LookBook was brought to you by Dylan Long and contributing photographer Tim Roth. Two amazing people who have both been indispensable during this photographic project. All studio shots by Dylan. I will go into more depth regarding the LookBook, people involved and process in a later post. Find more work by Dylan and Tim at the following links…

http://dylanlongphoto.com/

http://pupilphoto.com/

Thank you to Taylor Eke for the behind the scenes web development. Really happy with how it all came together.

LemoloBaggage.com

Hufnagel Cycles Porteur/City Bike Project

Lemolo Baggage — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:01:56 +0000

Everything about this is amazing!

Lemolo Daypack Travels South

Lemolo Baggage — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:34:11 +0000

My brother and I were fortunate enough to be able to break away from work for a quick 6 day trip down to Guatemala to visit our amazing sister who has been living, working, and studying there for a year or so now. Of course I took a Lemolo bag along with me. For this trip I employed the use of the Lemolo Daypack. It fit nicely under the seat in front of me while flying and was indispensable as a everyday bag for odds and ends while wandering around towns like Antigua and Flores and hiking through the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal. I even have photos to prove it…

The Lemolo Daypack is a bag ready for adventure, big and small. Whether it be out your back door or across the globe, get yours then go see the world!

-Elias

How It’s Made – Lemolo Nameplate

Lemolo Baggage — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:18:47 +0000

As the official launch dates seems to finally be approaching, I wanted to show off a bit of my hard work. The following is a photo set laying out exactly how each Lemolo nameplate is made. By hand, by me.

The process starts with a 6″x18″ sheet of brass shim. The first thing that needs to be done is to cut the brass down. I use a large metal cutter provided by one of my shop mates (thank you James). You have to carefully mark the brass, line up your piece and slowly, but forcefully, swing the arm down. It cuts at a very slight angle and takes a bit of getting used to. It’s not hard once you get the hang of it, but it can be rather tedious, especially when the pieces start to get down to their final size of 1/2″x2″.

Once the brass is cut down to the appropriate size the next step is to hammer “LEMOLO” into it. I had a custom stamp made for this specific purpose. A very hard, stable surface is required for this step. A heavy, purposeful swing is required when hammering the stamp to ensure a deep, even, well-cut final result. This can take a little practice to get the technique right. It is easy to get a accidental shadow image as the brass or stamp could make a virtually un-noticable hop when the stamp is struck. You only get one shot at this, so it has to count. At about 1/3 of the way through the process it is a real bummer to have to scrap a nameplate at this stage.

The next step is to round the corners on a grinder (thanks for the use of your grinder Jordan). Not much needs to be removed, so a steady hand and sharp eye is key here. The corners just need to be rounded a bit, that’s all. Once the corners are rounded you need to brush the backside of the nameplate along the edges with the grinder to smooth out any burrs that may have formed.

Only one more step is required before you are ready to rivet the nameplate to a finished bag. For this I was previously using a handheld drill and getting acceptable, but not great results. My friend Blake stopped by the shop and offered the use of his heavy duty hold punch. You simply find where you want your hole to be and squeeze. It takes a short amount of time for each nameplate but your hand can get a bit fatigued if you have a relatively large quantity to punch. This has been a dream compared to using a drill (thank you Blake).

At this point the nameplate is finished and needs only to be riveted to a bag. I lay the nameplate where I want it then mark on the bag where to punch the holes. As every nameplate is made one by one and the holes are cut by hand there can be a slight variance in where the holes in the bag need to be. So, to be sure everything looks just right you need to be sure to mark the bag using the exact nameplate you intend to rivet to that specific bag. Once the holes are punched it is simply a matter of loading up the rivet press, lining everything up, and pressing it together.

This small run of backpacks and duffels were all sewn by real people, whom I have met, working at Portland Garment Factory in SE Portland. I am the founder of Lemolo, sole designer, and each and every nameplate was completely made from scratch and attached by me. Lemolo Baggage, all proudly made in USA.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you found it both interesting and informative!

-Elias Grey

Visit lemolobaggage.com or follow Lemolo Baggage on Facebook and Twitter.

PGF Presents: HOUSE SHOW

Lemolo Baggage — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:32:44 +0000

I am honored to be a part of Portland Garment Factory’s House Show. A celebration of 3 years running for PGF and introduction of their very first fall collection, HouseLine. A handful of carefully selected designers along with myself will be showing and present for the runway show, dance party, and pop-up shop. Enjoy light snacks and drinks (donation only). Come join in the fun and get a chance to shop for the latest in fall immediates from some really amazing local designers. All for only $10. This is going to be a really great show, I recommend buying your tickets in advance. Get your pre-show tickets direct from PGF here.

Hope to see you there!

-Elias

Tool Roll: Version 2

Lemolo Baggage — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:46:14 +0000

Worked on the Tool Roll design a bit the past couple of weeks. Size-wise it is about the same. Changed the way it attaches to the saddle, strap that holds it closed, better elastic bands for tube, reinforced a few areas. Also, thinned it down a bit by doing away with the inside flap as it seemed less necessary than originally thought. Prototyped this version out of the same fabric as the previously mentioned handlebar bag. Man, those two would look good together on one bike! Check out some photos below. Drilled holes into the hand stamped Lemolo name plate and riveted it onto the roll after these photos were taken. Really happy with how it turned out. One step closer to final design and production stage!

-Elias

Lemolo Handlebar Bag

Lemolo Baggage — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:18:10 +0000

I’d like to start off by saying that I don’t do much custom stuff anymore. Very rarely in fact does my busy schedule allow me to take on a fully custom project. I recently made a exception…

Bicycle handlebar bags have gained a lot of popularity it seems in the past couple of years. I tried my hand at making one for my friend Mitch (M.A.P. Bicycles) a few years ago (photos) which paired nicely with a set of small panniers I had also constructed for him. Pretty happy with how it turned out, but wasn’t ready to start producing at that time. I recently completed another. Sort of a last-minute project for my good friend and shopmate Jordan (Hufnagel Cycles). I could not have been more pleased with how the bag turned out. I’d like to, in time, have a very similar production model for sale. It will pair nicely with the improved Tool Roll (if we can ever manage to finish a second round).

As per Jordan’s request there is no leather on this bag. It is constructed mainly of waxed canvas and cotton webbing, with a bit of metal hardware here and there. A hand pounded Lemolo badge and custom hooks made by Jordan express, in my opinion, the simple and subtle hand-made elegance of the bag. This is a one-of-a-kind, enjoy…

I really really hope to have a production model similar to this bag in the future. It will take some time though. As always, feedback is welcomed.

-Elias

Social Networking

Lemolo Baggage — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:22:39 +0000

Hi,

I just wanted to write a small post to keep everyone up-to-date on where and h0w to find the latest Lemolo info. I have started using other social networking sites a lot to get out short quick updates, new ideas, happenings, etc. and using this blog for more major announcements. So, if you only follow the blog at this point I would highly recommend checking in on the other pages on occasion as well. Website is slated to be ready in a matter of weeks.

Website – Facebook – Twitter

-Elias