Skiff's Prairie DeSigns replaces former Sew Sassy

To know Malta's Katie Skiff at all is to know that she is the crafty sort, so it should come as no surprise that she and her husband Greg's recent purchase of the former Sew Sassy - cleverly renamed Prairie DeSigns - was a bit of a no-brainer when the opportunity for ownership arose.

"I actually had a personal, smaller vinyl cutting machine, so I would make my own t-shirts," Katie said. "So, when this opportunity came, I was like 'Yes! This is what I want to do'. And then Greg just goes along with it."

While Katie talked to the PCN, Greg was busy embroidering a hat in the back of the shop. Katie said that Deanna Arnold, former Sew Sassy proprietor, helped the couple and their family to understand all the ins and outs of running the business and added that luckily, she is just up the block at KMMR and has offered to continue to offer her assistance as needed.

"There was a lot to learn with the embroidery," Katie admitted. "The vinyl stuff wasn't as intimidating, it is just at a larger scale. There is a learning curve and we are thankful Deanna helped us out so much."

Greg and Katie took over the store in early October and Greg said he is happy that the family has found a business opportunity in which everyone can help out (two of the Skiff's children, R.C. and McKinley, come in after school on weekends to help take care of business.)

"So far, they have been pretty excited, but when we have tournaments coming up, we will see if they stick around," Katie joked.

The store's inventory boasts something for everyone. Currently, Jessica Meyer's Wash and Wonder clothing is on sale in the store for the holiday season and as far as the Skiff's inventory, Prairie DeSigns features aromatherapy and essential oils, some stuffed animals, and sublimation (which involves transferring images permanently to such items as coffee cups, photo slates, T-shirts, tiles, cake pans, jewelry and more.)

"It's just another nice way to personalize things," Katie said. "The M-ettes also got all their warm-up uniforms customized with the sublimation."

Another service Prairie DeSigns offers customers are custom signs -- hence the capital "S" in "DeSigns. "Katie said that the store has coats and other clothing on hand to embroider and can order different types of clothing as well. The store can make all types of sizes of metal, wood and aluminum signs, vinyl for vehicle's (Spencer Electric's logos on their trucks as an example), as well as all the clothing, hats and various other items to be had.

"Lots of team apparel," Katie said. "All of the Phillips County teams, but I am sure if someone asked us to make a Glasgow Scottie shirt, we could figure that out too."

"We don't have a whole bunch of red," Greg kidded, "but I guess we could order some in. If you can dream it up, we can try and make it, whether embroidery or vinyl, clothing, wood or metal. We will get it done for you. There's no job too large or too small...until it is too large, I guess."

Prairie DeSigns is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Mondays in December the Skiffs will be open from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. for the late-night shopping hours in the City of Malta. Prairie DeSigns is also accepting Christmas Scrip and the Skiffs said they hope to see everyone soon.

"We have that gift for that hard to shop for person in your life," Greg said. "We have a little of everything here and you can't go wrong with a customized gift...from blankets and towels to hoodies, coats, and hats."