PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE
Tools of the trade.
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Today, her earrings are so popular, it's hard to keep up with demand.
WORDS VICTORIA CAREY PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE
"I always say the dog is named after the business, the business is not named after the dog."
A walk through the paddock.
The workspace.
Emily began selling her jewellery at shops she'd stop at during the drive to the University of New England.
“She has the most beautiful temperament,” says Emily.
“I love this place because he is here."
Tools of the trade.
Packing an order for a loyal customer.
Emily wears her own designs.
PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE
Tools of the trade.
PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE
Emily wearing one of her designs.
“She has the most beautiful temperament,” says Emily. “When I got her, I had just come back from a stay in the UK and I picked her up from Molong on my way home. Peggy just nestled in between my back and the car seat the whole way.”
Most people assume that Emily’s jewellery business, Peggy & Twig, is named after this much-loved dog but in fact it’s the other way around. “Everyone thinks that, but Peggy came along afterwards. I always say the dog is named after the business, the business is not named after the dog. Peggy & Twig just happened to be a name that I liked,” she explains quietly.
As the sixth generation to grow up on her family property at O’Connell, near New South Wales’s Oberon, Emily’s love for the land runs deep. Today, the 30-year-old lives at Annersleigh, a property which lies on the road between the Central West towns of Trangie and Nevertire, with her husband George Quigley. “I love this place because he is here,” she says. “And I also love the peace and quiet.”
Emily made the move in 2019 when the area was still gripped by drought and the local community welcomed her with open arms. “There are many women who have moved here for love, who are highly skilled and doing really interesting things,” she says. “I am so inspired by the ambitious women here. There are so many people having a go.”
It’s very flat country, with yellow box and wilga trees dotted across the landscape. Wheat and canola crops are spread out like a giant tablecloth as far as the eye can see — clearly, the season has been good.
Other things, aside from crops, have been thriving here too. A pivotal moment was on 22 October, 2019, when Emily was featured on Buy From The Bush. Sixty orders arrived within the hour but, more importantly, it gave this former kindergarten teacher at Orange’s independent Kinross Wolaroi School the confidence to leave the education world.
It was a gamble that has paid off. Today, the demand for Peggy & Twig’s pretty freshwater pearl earrings is hard to satisfy, so much so that Emily made the decision in March this year to buy an old shopfront in nearby Trangie. “My business was really growing out of home and I was never ‘leaving’ work. Then a 1950s stock-and-station agent’s building came up for sale,” she says. “I am only the second person to have ever owned it. I love the old features of original buildings so, while it has been rewired, replumbed, plastered and insulated with a new roof, I have chosen beautiful doors and hardware to keep the vintage feel intact. It will be a lovely place to work.”
PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE
Emily and her husband, George.
PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE
Packing an order.
“There are many women who have moved here for love, who are highly skilled and doing really interesting things. I am so inspired by the ambitious women here. There are so many people having a go.”
“I used to stop along the way and visit shops that I thought might like my earrings. And that’s the way I built up my business in the beginning,” she says. “I didn’t even have samples, I was like, ‘This is what I have — would you like to buy it?’ ”
Her first pieces were button earrings
covered in vintage fabrics Emily found in op shops that she sold to her university friends before venturing out to the local markets in Armidale. “I think there’s a lot to be said for being completely naive, going into something like this,” she says with a smile. “But I think it’s encouraging for others that I was able to leave a job in a regional centre and move to a rural town of 1000 people and still considerably improve my personal and professional life. I’m really proud of that.
And just where does this creative streak come from? “My dad’s mum was a clever seamstress. She was a big part of our lives and made all of our clothes. Mum still has all of the lovely little dresses and jumpsuits. She taught me how to iron the shoulder of a shirt and how to make a pillowcase. The carpet of her house was a minefield of sewing pins —once one went straight into Mum’s foot! And there would always be a pair of fabric scissors on the dining table. Mum and Dad told me that when she was in the nursing home she said: ‘Emily kissed me there, don’t wipe it off.’ I’ll never forget that. I wish she was around now so that I could ask her a few more questions.” And what was this much-loved matriarch’s name? If you believe in fate, you won’t be surprised to hear that it was ‘Pearl’.
You can visit Peggy & Twig’s new workroom one day a week at 17 Dandaloo Street, Trangie, NSW. For information visit Peggy & Twig’s website and find them on Instagram.
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