Corny shirt and skirt AND a short story about a man at a coffee shop

Hello everybody, I hope you guys are doing well!

This is a matching skirt and shirt that I made for us.  I have not made many man's shirt in the past, (maybe one for my ex husband and he probably shouldn't have worn it!!! hahaha I had just started sewing)

I have to say, I don’t like making men's clothing!! Boring!!!. lol

I had bought this knit fabric at Fabricville for myself but when I got home and looked at the fabric again I felt it was very manly and so Leon had been bugging me a while about making him a shirt and so I thought, why not?  While I was cutting the shirt, I saw that I had extra fabric enough to make a skirt for myself!  Bonus! ! !  And so it became our matching outfits.

And here they are

Mr. Model wearing his shirt

AKA Leon

Men's shirts are pretty simple to make, not much for design options, pretty plain.  The only thing you have to make is cuffs and a binding for the neck.  There is a little design element on the back of the shirt that really doesn't need to be there since you can't see it much but just to be designery, I put it in.

He actually stood still enough for me to take a few pictures without making weird faces! lol

He only gets to wear his shirt one way basically. I guess he could wear it with black pants if he had some…he really needs a pair of black pants. Christmas present!! haha

These are a few of the possible ways I can wear my skirt

I can wear this skirt with the waist flipped down for a low waist or with the waist up like in the bottom picture for a higher waist skirt.

Look at those arms baby!!! After not being able to use my arms much for a year because of a frozen shoulder/tendinitis/fibromyalgia. I was not able to exercise but I have been doing light weights for a week or so and I can see my arms are finally starting to get toned again!!! Woohoo!!!  I was rubbing my arm the other day and I felt a lump, I thought, Oooh what’s that??  then I realized it was my muscle lol  You know you haven’t seen muscles in a while when….. hehehe

Just ignore the thread on the bottom of my foot!!! I’m a seamstress first and model next so what do you expect??? lol

Don’t you just love black and white!!!?? I think it’s so dressy and clean looking!!

hmmm I’m wondering what this skirt would look like with a red top? I just bought one at the used clothing store that is very nice with lacing up the sides, long sleeves and is fitted in some places and kind of billowy in others. I’ll have to try it, I think it might work.

AND here it is, THE CORNY COUPLE!!! :)

That’s it, there is no more.  I hope you enjoyed our corny outfits!!

P.S.  God tells us to love our enemies in Matthew 5:44

KJV

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Let me give you an example with this little true story of mine

    “The man at the coffee shop”

It was another beautiful day in the month of June and I had been working in that quaint little cafe on the side of the road for a few months. It was like every other day that I’d been there. The men would be outside waiting  at 5:30 for me to get there for 6:00 am. I would always try to get there as early as I could because I knew that they were eager to get their coffee and breakfast. I would usually get there by quarter to six just to keep them happy. It was an early morning but I didn’t mind.

 

Serving them was pretty easy as all I had to do was put the coffee on and make bread while the coffee brewed, make their toast and pour their coffee and tea and the rest was basically self served. The creams, sugar, butter and milks etc. were all on the tables or counter and they could help themselves. I really loved working in the busy environment.

The busier it was, the happier I was. I just loved the challenge of trying to serve the “packed like sardines” men that would come in there for their breakfast or just coffee and chat with their friends. While busy washing loads of mugs and plates by hand I remember thinking that they sounded like a bunch of bees that had just had their hive disturbed. They all had stories that was bigger and better than the other ones and would all raise their voices over the others to try to prove it!! hahaha  Some of the things that would come out of their mouths were pretty foul at times but I would just try to ignore them and pretend I didn’t hear it. Yes they were a unrefined bunch, some worst than others but they were basically good guys! I became very fond of them all and they seemed fond of me too….except this one man.

Every morning he would come and slap his money on the counter and bark out his order of toast and tea. No please, no thank you’s!!! It made me sooooooooo mad!!!! I think I was actually seeing red and I know my blood was boiling!!! But I would bite my tongue and serve him politely as this was my job.

On this particular morning, which was no different than any other morning, he slapped his money on the counter and barked out his order. I looked at the grimness on his face and thought, he doesn’t look like a very happy man!! What is his problem anyway!!!??  I was so mad!! I don’t know what happened to me that morning but I felt something strange inside me, like something snapped. I wanted so badly to say something mean to him but I couldn’t because I didn’t want to loose my job over it, and this thought came to my mind. “I wonder what it would take to make him say please and thank you???”  Right then and there I decided to make this my life long mission!! I didn’t know how I was going to go about it, but I was going to try, even if it killed me! I was bound and determined.

The next morning I worked there I was ready for him and sure enough he didn’t fail to slap his money down and bark out his order of toast and tea. I patiently went about getting his teabag and poured his hot water in his mug and got his toast and put it in a plate which is what I would usually do, but this time, I squeezed his teabag for him and handed it to him over the counter. He looked at it and took it without even acknowledging I had done anything different or more than I would do for the other guys as he continued finishing up doing his breakfast with his milk, butter and jam. I fumed inside!!! I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to be so unfeeling and uncaring and cold!!! I will find a way to make this man say please and thank you if it’s the last thing I do!!!

I secretly watched him as he prepared his tea.

Again he came in the next time I was woirking and again he didn’t fail to be his charming self and slapped his money on the counter and barked out his order. I patiently went about making his toast and his tea but this time I squeezed his teabag and put the amount of milk and sugar I had watched him pour in,the previous time he had been in, and I stirred it and thought to myself “surely he will love me now!!!???” as I waited for his reaction. He looked at his mug and looked at me and paused for a second and continued on without a word. “Woah!! That is amazing, I barely got a reaction!! I can’t believe his nerve!! I think I’m starting to like this challenge though, I sure am not stopping and I won’t until I get the reaction I want to see”, I think as I again secretly watch him butter and jam his toast.

I’m anxious to see him come in today. I think this is going to be the day I get a good reaction from him. I am so ready!!! He’s here like clockwork, they all are very predictable. They even have certain times they come so you know basically who’s coming when.

He slaps his money on the counter and barks out his order. I excitedly go about making his breakfast of toast and tea. I squeeze his teabag, I put in the right amount of sugar and milk, I butter his toast and put on the strawberry jam that he picked out the last time. There I’ve got it!!! How can he not say thank you to this!!!?? I call out his name to let him know that his breakfast is ready. He comes over looks at his tea and he looks at his plate and he grunts. Yes he grunts! He grunts and reaches for another jam and plasters it on his toast and cuts it in half!!! Oh God forbid that I didn’t put enough jam on his toast!!! The nerve!!! I’ll show him if he wants perfection!!! Bring it on!!!

Yes this is the day, it has to be. I’m ready, I’m ready for perfection.                                                    

We go through the whole process again, the slapping the money, the barking out the order but this time I make his tea perfectly the way he likes it, I butter his toast and put extra jam on it, I cut in in half diagonally just the way I watched him do it…..and instead of calling his name, I go out around the counter and I place it on his table in front of him with a big smile.

The look on his face is priceless and one I will never forget. At that moment I watched his countenance change. The angry looking face changed right before my eyes and the lines in his face softened and a light came into his eyes and maybe even a tear. He looked at me for a long moment and I don’t even think he was breathing he was so shocked that someone would go to this extent for him. He looked down at his plate for what seemed to be a long time and then I knew my time had come, he looked at me and for the first time, I saw him smile and out came the magic words in a sigh of something that sounded almost like relief and amazement. “Thank you dear!” and a beautiful connection was made between a young lady and an man that would last for years.  I was ecstatic!! I felt like I had won the biggest prize ever….and who knows, maybe I did.

I continued to serve him his tea and toast and bring it to his table. Since I had perfected it, I may as well continue doing it. He got good naturedly teased  a lot about it and all the rest of the men would ask me why I served him in that way ,in mock jealousy, almost like they knew I had a good reason even though I had told no one about this, and we would look at each other, this man and I, and I would say,”because he calls me dear”

Never under estimate the power of love, even for your own enemies. It is easy to love the people you love and who loves you back, but to love someone that seems unlovable, well you can be sure, that someday, it will be greatly rewarded by God

P.S.S  You don’t necessarily have to feel love to show love…love is not only a feeling, it’s an action