wastewater industry, and had a side hustle in interior design, which she loved. Now that she’ s retired, her love of sewing and creating has become a full-time passion. When she’ s not sitting at the machine finishing designs, she is always on the hunt for those pieces that carry a timeless history.“ What was in many people’ s great-grandma’ s closets. I kind of want my things to look like a young girl went up into her grandmother’ s attic, and got in the trunk, and found all these wonderful things. And they made something wonderful because they lived out on the prairie with no access to any stores, that kind of thing,” Kirkpatrick said.
“ Or something that fell off a stagecoach, you know. And they found it and refurbished it. And I kind of like to think of myself as a fashion alchemist.”
She has a treasure trove of inventory.
“ I get all these things together, and mesh them together, and create something fun and wonderful.
“ The clothes that I make, I’ m in it for longevity and hopefully they’ ll last for years and years. And 50 years from now somebody will be like,‘ oh, look at this, this is cool. Where’ d this come from?’”
She adds her handmade label“ Prairie Rags” to
DEBORAH KIRKPATRICK SHOWS OFF ONE OF HER UNIQUE PIECES THAT HAS BEEN REFASH- IONED.
every piece she creates. Her design business was called Prairie Rose Cottage and Garden in Houston. After moving to Stephens County, she discovered there was already a business with the name Prairie Rose. Moving away from interior design, she wanted a label name that was more fitting of her wearable art. Prairie Rags was born to represent her wearable fashions. It also represents other items, including hats and unique decor that she creates.
One of her most unique pieces is an old dress form that has been refashioned into a Victorian-era inspired tabletop lamp, with soft creams and ivory pieces of lace and other materials. She credits her husband, Cecil, for helping make that happen. It is on display in her booth at Mud Creek Creations in Comanche. She is extremely blessed to have
Sherrie Burton, APRN-CNP
3085 Brookwood Avenue( 580) 786-4008