Walter paints a portrait with The Scout Plein Air Box. 

Time isn't very orderly these days.
It speeds up and slows down inexplicably.
This was this winter, or years ago.

Read the backstory of how Walter came to develop the Scout Plein Air Box, which was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. 

We've been going back to our roots, concocting four Of a Kind collections throughout the year - made from antique textiles and other miscellany gathered from abandoned houses, flea markets, and wherever else we can find them! This collection took a dramatic colour change and blends in with a lot of the treasures from nature that have been accumulating on my desk! ⁠

These collections go fast - we will send out an email announcement 3 hours before they are available – you will be able to look through each item in the collection at that time.⁠ Join our newsletter to receive the preview and launch announcements! ⁠

Amy Voloshin, founder of Voloshin and PrintFresh, interviews Margaux Kent of Peg and Awl! 

I first met Margaux when she dropped by our studio to try on a few dresses. She already had a few of our pieces from one of our mutually favorite Philly boutiques, Vagabond, and wanted to try on some of our new styles. We got to talking all things small business, creativity, and balancing it all with motherhood. She's a fascinating creative with such a distinct viewpoint. Her artwork and commitment to handmade goods is an inspiration to me, and I hope you enjoy learning more about her process. Also, if you are ever in Philadelphia be sure to stay at her gorgeous Airbnb*, which is so beautiful and an amazing escape in the city. - Amy Voloshin

Margaux, can you tell us a little about how you would describe your line Peg and Awl?

Peg and Awl is kind of a dream. The beginning of the story goes like this: “We used to make things for ourselves, and now we make them for everyone.” Peg and Awl came to be without a plan—just the want to make. It is a small business that thrives on discovery and meandering and curiosity. And on usefulness, craftsmanship, research, reflection, sustainability and longevity. It is a reaction to our disposable culture, and a connection to the past and the present. Peg and Awl is story and family. It is freedom and hard work. 

What did you study in school? 

Photography and Jewelry Design.

When did you start your line and what was your first product?

We started in 2010 with the Tub Caddy. For much of my life I threw splintery 2x4s across my tub and wrote and drew in the bath. When I met Walter—a woodworker—I asked if he could make me a better one. A year or so on, we were working on our Fishtown home with wood collected from 1800s buildings that were being torn down in the neighborhood. At that time people thanked us for hauling away their garbage and one company even parked a dumpster on our block for a week for us to pick until our heart’s content!

One day Walter went down to his basement woodshop, used some of the scrap antique wood and made a tub caddy. He climbed the stairs with his prize (my treasure!) in his hands. It was simple and useful and beautiful! We took photographs straight away and thus began Peg and Awl. 

The retail landscape is drastically different these days - I know I’ve seen you at tradeshows, do you currently sell to stores? Or do you do a lot of business through your online shop? 

We sell to some stores but have greatly reduced the amount since the days of the tradeshows—very intentionally. We have some really long, strong relationships that we love including the New York Public Library, Museum Shops, and Goop, and we partner with some incredible companies like Rishi Tea. Otherwise we sell mostly through our website! 

Where do you get your inspiration for new products? What does that design process look like?

From life! The process is different for each object. For example, the Sendak Artist Roll, our best-selling treasure currently, arose from my trip to Spain for an illustration class. When I returned, I designed the case I wished I'd had whilst traveling. Walter is currently working on a plein air box after a recent painting adventure in Italy! Because we use so many materials, each object emerges in a different way, but everything comes from a need. We put the objects to personal use first and make changes as we see the need until we are finally ready to share them with the world! 

Your line conjures up a feeling from the past which reminds me of antiques and life from long ago - has that always been an inspiration to you? What was your style like when you were younger, and how has your style evolved over time? 

I’ve always loved flea markets and abandoned houses and spent much time at both with my mom growing up! I love the effect that time has on an object, along with the stories they carry. Walter loves history and appreciates historic objects for their usefulness and quality. When we started Peg and Awl (and my first business, The Black Spot Books), we transformed antique objects and materials into new and useful objects. So the character and effects of time were in everything.

As we began to run out of antique materials (such as antique gunslings for our bag straps) we began searching for new materials with old-fashioned quality that don’t negatively impact our planet. These quests transformed our business, but not the quality of our work. We travelled to England to visit a 500-year-old leather factory and then to Pennsylvania (quite roundabout) to discover the company we currently work with. And we learned a LOT about leather.

We still use wood from old buildings for desk caddies and one of a kinds but have added sustainable domestic hardwood for kitchen items and furniture. We love for the things we make to reflect a timelessness both forward and back, but it is never our goal to merely replicate what was. 

What’s it like working with your spouse? How do you divide your responsibilities? Now under quarantine, are you both working at home together? 

We love working together and through the years have come to divide our responsibilities naturally to support our individual strengths. We do a lot of work from home now, and we are also spending more time with our boys—whom we homeschool already. Walter has taken to baking bread (so you may see some kitchen and bread objects come out of Peg and Awl soon!) and we’ve been making a lot of art together. Initially, I thought quarantine meant we’d have a little time to pause and ‘catch up’, but it turned into a busy time for us trying to keep the business alive!

Tintype by Giles Clement

What does a typical day look like for you?

Oh. Well, I am incredibly unorganized, and I have a go button that won’t turn off. No two days are the same. Only the beginnings and ends – when I am alone, and my family is sleeping – are ‘typical’. I rise at 7, make coffee and write and draw in my journal, I end most of my days drawing, and crawl into bed by midnight to read. 

The in-betweens are different daily, I do sit at my computer much more than I’d prefer! Some days I take photographs, others – lately – involve video. I spend a lot of time writing, responding to customers, and working on SEO. When businesses open, I cannot wait to go back to flea markets for inspiration and materials. I also design new treasures and work on our packaging and postcards. A lot of this is done with our small marketing team of 3! 

I’m fascinated by homeschooling; how did you make the decision to start? Now that so many families are homeschooling right now during quarantine, do you have any advice for starting out? How structured is your curriculum?

We’d been contemplating homeschooling since I was pregnant with Søren. Walter was homeschooled and his family stories always sounded so wonderful (he is one of twelve kiddos!). The things that matter to us – learning through art and exploration and travel – to name a few, cannot really happen in an institution. And these years are the VERY years we get to be so close with our boys! And every day after school, S+S were grumpy. Life was jammed into the space that remained after school, after homework, after work.

So, when Søren was going into 5th grade, and Silas into 2nd, we discovered Open Connections, a homeschooling co-op of sorts. After one visit, we made the quick decision to give it a go – and it has been wonderful. Of course, the pandemic changed this year a lot – we’ve since bought a camper and are going to tuck some good old road-schooling into our education. (Of course, education isn’t just for kids!)

Many of us are struggling right now to work and have children at home - how have you balanced the two? You are remarkably creative, how do you fit it all in? What advice would you share to those of us who are new to balancing work and homeschooling? 

I think our boys have a lot to do with our success. They are often as deep into projects as we are. Sometimes side by side, and other times I won’t see them for hours. But mostly I feel that it is really hard for me to keep a thread with so much going on. I love so many things and wish to jam so much in a day between work, boys, and art. So, yeah, I struggle with that too – all of the time! Who doesn’t?!

What does self care look like for you? What do you do to nourish yourself?

Oh dear. Herein lies my grey cloud. I love walking and yoga. I love reading and writing and drawing. And gardening. In a dream world I do all of this every day, and this is why my solitary ends of each day are so important to me! But I don’t get much of any. I squeeze in what I can in very small doses. And so it goes…

What’s your favorite way to exercise? 

I really REALLY enjoyed moving fieldstone around the 5 Acre Wood the first 2 weeks of quarantine! We have so much rock here! It felt very Sisyphean, but so do many things. And I sweat and I felt strong. And then I stopped. And now I am melting a little. I love kayaking and swimming and wandering in the woods. I love yoga. Getting lost altogether in a thing is my favourite. Not counting the minutes or the miles, just wandering.

Do you have a favorite article of clothing or accessory?

I have a very small closet (and I love this) so nearly everything is a favourite. Some clothing I’ve had for decades – including a Leonard Cohen T shirt that I got at a concert in 1993! Lately, I’ve been loving a black slip – the under layer of a Voloshin dress. I wear it gardening, hiking, swimming even, and a romper from Black Crane. I love gray – or rather black worn so much it fades to the perfect grey. 

What are your favorite spots for shopping and eating in Philly?

My goodness this question feels so unreal!

I love Suraya, Stock, Artist and Craftsman, and Vagabond (where I discovered Voloshin!)

Where can we purchase your items?

www.pegandawlbuilt.com !

*Note, January 2022: With the sale of our Philadelphia home (previously serving as an Airbnb), we were able to and embark on this new Barn Restoration Project.

What happens when two founders meet, each of whom is already breaking new ground with her products, and whose similarities seem to leap to mind even before they’ve had a chance to talk? Exactly! Only good things can come out of it! And that’s exactly how things went between Wildling founder Anna Yona and Margaux Kent, who created the Peg and Awl brand together with her husband Walter. In a virtual meeting, the two founders chat about their brands, their everyday work life, and their collaboration.

Margaux, tell me... what do you do at Peg and Awl? And how did you come up with the idea of founding a company together?

Walter and I have always enjoyed doing things ourselves. My great passion is bookbinding, and Walter loves working with wood. In the beginning we rummaged around at a bunch of flea markets and rescued old wood from the rubble of torn down houses using Walter’s rusty pickup truck. We then used our finds to craft beautiful and useful items for our home.
A little over a year later our first son, Søren, was born and Walter and I got married in Iceland.

But barely a year went by before we founded Peg and Awl. I was pregnant with our second son, Silas, and Walter had just returned from a mission in Iraq. After celebrating our reunion, Walter headed straight for the workbench in the basement and built me a new book rest for the bathtub – a long-standing wish of mine. This gave rise to the idea of producing useful items that weren’t just for us, but for everyone.

Over the past ten years, Peg and Awl has grown significantly. What’s different now?

We started our company as a couple, and now we are a 15-person team handling all the work ourselves, from accounting and product design to production and sales. We’re still small but we’ve become much more efficient.

On top of that, we have most likely exhausted the local supply of old raw materials. In the beginning, we recycled antique leather – which was formerly used for rifle straps – to make our bags, and worked with reclaimed wood. But at a certain point we had to look for alternatives. I was even close to abandoning everything because I didn’t like the idea of buying conventional leather.

Fortunately I managed to find a producer virtually around the corner who offers vegetable-tanned organic leather – that’s something I can stand by personally and that’s what we’re working with now. The search for wood ended ten miles south of Pennsylvania, where we work. We found a 17th century sawmill that is still in operation and has processed hardwoods from the region for two decades.

While the sources for raw materials have changed a little, the rustic look of Peg and Awl products has been preserved and is also reflected in the Wildling model Griffin and the matching Silva bag that was inspired by it. How did this actually come about, Anna?

I’ve been following Peg and Awl for a very, very long time. Margaux’s newsletter is one of Wildling’s best-practice examples, and a picture of her tote bag is pinned on the mood board for our very first collection. I also have two bags and a backpack because I love the design, the rugged look and the materials. (At this point we can picture Anna enthusiastically holding a black canvas bag in front of the camera).

The approach of taking something old, something that at first glance may seem outdated, and creating something new that is not only beautiful but also becomes a part of your everyday life – that approach resonated with me immediately. Learning to value things again instead of just throwing them away is also one of the directions we want to pursue at Wildling. It was clear to me relatively quickly that I absolutely wanted to work with Margaux and her family to develop a new product.

You produced the Silva bag in Pennsylvania. What do you think of Griffin – the new Peg and Awl inspired Wildling? And how was the collaboration for you, Margaux?

Unfortunately I haven’t held a pair in my hands yet, but they look great in the photos! I can hardly wait to finally wear them. We like to walk barefoot a lot and we wear barefoot shoes, but I have never had a pair of Wildlings on before and I am really excited.

Our collaboration actually turned out to be kind of a blend of cooperation and contract work since we unfortunately couldn’t coordinate things with each other live and on site. If we ever work together on something again, I hope that we can meet in person. In that case, I would love to come to Germany, visit the studio, and fine-tune the designs together.

What do you think, Anna? Will there be a sequel?

I would be delighted if these two products were the first step and if they laid the foundation for further joint projects. I know that you originally wanted to make shoes at Peg and Awl – maybe someday there will be a Wildling that will help us bring your perfect shoe to life.

That sounds like things are going to remain interesting. We are looking forward to seeing more from both of you and are already so excited about where the journey is heading, dear Margaux and Anna!

  Photographs by @wildling.shoes

Our Bakehouse Collection is comprised of seven useful bags intended to replace common and disposable paper goods.

A trip into the old-country, by to-day's standards, proves to be thoroughly modern. To be sure, it is still quite sensible to bring along your sacks for the produce market and boulangerie as well as one for the frock shoppes.

We invite you to a little time travel...

No. 1 Pastry: A small, simple bag that works well with the other six. This pastry bag is perfect for a morning cookie, pastry, or an afternoon snack!

No. 2 Snack: I imagine this on road trips with pistachios or grapes, pretzels or rice cakes. This snack bag is also perfect for any loose snack fitted for day trips and lunches for little people and big people too!

No. 3 Wine: This one fits a bottle or two. It's also good for olive oil and I am certain, other things. This wine bag – traded at a market and stuffed with two bottles of wine – is perfect for bringing wine home or giving as a gift!

No. 4 Baguette: Quite perfect for just such loaves! No more one timers. Use this on repeat. This baguette bag is perfect for those who frequently fetch baguettes from the local bakery or farmers’ market, or for those bread makers who find the gifting of fresh baked bread irresistible!

No. 5 Bread: For bread bakers, buyers and gifters! This bread bag – scooped up with a delicious loaf of fresh baked bread – is perfect for those who regularly bring a hearty loaf along to a picnic, afternoon adventure, or friendly meeting.

No. 6 Petite Market (Right): Good for lunches, markets, or any other kind of little-thing-shopping. Our Petite Market bag – scooped up with a delicious trio of salads – is perfect for those who share lunch, have a big mid-day appetite or for a visit to your local cheese shoppe.

No. 7 Market (Left): Perfect for every kind of shopping. Our Market bag – actually received with a dress within – is a large shopping bag strong enough to suit whatever your gathering needs may be!

Our zero waste washable cotton bags were made after scouring our city’s best cafes for the most useful shapes in paper bags. These bags are all made from locally sourced 100% cotton canvas, and are therefore washable!

"I cannot remember the books I have read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me." Ralph Waldo Emerson 

All the Names is a jewelry collection that incorporates brass frames from mid-1800s Daguerreotype and Ambrotype photograph hinge cases that once framed faces whose names are forever lost.  

In 1847, preservers or brass frames, were added to hinge photograph cases. They wrapped the glass, mat and image to protect the delicate photograph. We have taken the cases apart and transformed them into jewelry. 

When we come into contact with the past through old journals, well-worn objects, family stories, &c, we are altered by them and them by us. The same is true in the making and experiencing of objects that incorporate elements or stories from the past. What seems immutable is, by dint of our footfalls in the dusty attic, made different. 

All of these names, with the exception of Beatrice, after my grandmother, have come from characters in books and are some of the bits that have in some way, made me.

• Lotte, named from Goethe's Sorrow's of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Dorian, named from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Eulalie, named from the poem Eulalie by Edgar Allan Poe
• Hanta, named from Too Loud A Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
• Valéne, named from Life: A Users Manual by Georges Perec
• Fermina, named from Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
• Tereza, named from The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
• Lucy, named from Heap House by Edward Carey

As the rings stack, new journeys unfold. With All the Names we offer the possibility to wear a fragment of someone’s history that changes yet again when a ring slips onto your finger, or a pendant around your neck. 

Bartram Wood Balm is a handcrafted balm that will brighten and restore your wooden kitchen pieces! It emerged from a collaboration with Priya Means Love which began as a meeting at a craft show and a swap, in the beginning years of Peg and Awl.  

Our enthusiasm for one another’s goods led to this natural balm of beeswax and pure plant oils which restores and preserves our wooden objects as well as nourishes the hands that wield them. 
 
Cloth in hand, use Bartram Wood Balm to brighten up and restore your dull wooden kitchen tools and surfaces such as cutting boards, spoons and spatulas, rolling pins, your great grandma's wooden bowls, and the well-worn surface of your cherished butcher’s block. 

Our Bartram Balm is available in both 2 ounce and 4 ounce containers, which are packaged in recycled plastic containers made in the USA. 

Ingredients within the Balm: 

• Small farm golden beeswax 
• Fractionated coconut oil 
• Wild-harvested Eastern Hemlock Essential Oil 
• Rosemary oleoresin 

So, take a soft cloth, scoop some balm, and rub it into anything that needs some brightening—and don't neglect your hands!

We have TWO more collaborations in the works with Priya, that will accompany other goodies we make. We cannot wait to share these with you! Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of any updates.

We've been making a lot of tree swings this year as everyone, both young and old, have been navigating fun at home.

Before Peg and Awl, we made a rope tree swing for our boys. It was something they never grew weary of and has long since become a thing many never grow out of. 

As summer turns to autumn, we are finding small escapes, but we never grow weary of swinging in the backyard! Now, we are preparing to set up our swing at the Five Acre Wood, as our barn space is ready for use. When you're ready to join in the merriment, we have a video demonstrating how to hang your tree swing.

Our next Of a Kind Summer Pouch and Journal collection (2020) features some vintage fabrics from bundles, feedsacks, unfinished quilts, bolts of indigo from the 1800s and more. They are limited to the number of pouches we were able to make from each reclaimed piece.

Sign up for our Newsletter to be notified when a new Of a Kind collection is live in our the shop!

One Spring, I found small bundles of utilitarian textiles from the late 1800s—early 1900s under a table at a flea market. Each little bundle, when open, reveals the negative space of a homemade dress—no piece was too small to save.

The first time I encountered these tied up treasures was at an abandoned house. The red and white striped bundle was tucked into a drawer with so many other keepsakes wrapped up in newspapers from the 1950s, a time capsule from part of a life. I gathered what I could and returned many times until finally the house was just scattered bits of insides mixed with rubble in an open field. I used the red and white striped cotton pieces to line my own journals so many years ago and we have brought this detail into our Peg and Awl journals. 

Uncovering these bundles that have endured for more than a century is so strangely inspiring in our throwaway society. Someone saved them for something—did they ever imagine how the future opener of their curious legacy would make use of them a century later? 

Watch the video of our Summer 2021 Of a Kind Collection!

Chapters of The Scout Plein Air Box Video Walkthrough

0:00 Features of the Box
5:02 Setting Up the Box for Painting
11:12 Mounting on a Tripod (Walter uses one by Peak Design)
11:46 Filling the Paint Tubes
13:53 The Scout for Everyday Use