Big Dipper, Little Dipper

It's been a little over a month since our newest family member joined us. And with a little one to take care of now, I now have another hat to wear. There’s more than likely going to be less technical and food content being written about until we get into the swing of this parenting thing. So if that’s what you’re here for, bear with me, as I’ve got this whole new world I’ll be learning about on the job. I’d very much like to be able to start writing about a wider range of topics again, but in the mean time, we’ll see where this new journey takes us.

In the lead-up to the arrival of our little miss, I noticed that a lot of things are baby centric, and to a certain extent, mum-to-be centric, but most of the time, it seems as though dads take second string when it comes to being part of this stage of coming parenthood.

For the baby shower, instead of a ladies’ only affair, our friends tend to organise group gatherings, and along the same lines, we hosted a BBQ and invited our friends. We had none of the games, just good company, and sharing “Hey, we’ve got a baby coming” with those we care about.

We were also asked to put together a gift registry, and as complete novices in this area, it took a while to figure out what to put on it. I went through many ‘essential baby’, ‘things we found indispensable’ and ‘things we wish we didn’t buy’ lists to gauge what was needed. It was kept as practical as possible, with only a couple items I would classify as whimsy, feeling it would be somewhat rude to put in frivolous items for our friends and family to gift us. Dad-to-be was involved in the item selection process, and I highlighted items that were specifically his preferences.

I did throw in a couple nice-to-have nursing-friendly clothing items for myself, knowing that I would have to make some extremely functional additions to my current wardrobe in any case, and without the expectation that anyone would pick them up. But I still felt a little guilty adding them.

And yet, there were no items for dad.

I involved him in choosing items and designs for things we wanted, but it still didn’t feel like he was being adequately represented. And the internet was failing to inspire with things that would fit this bill. I found dad-to-be stubby holders, and lists of diaper bags and carriers which were aesthetically pleasing for those of the male persuasion, but the suggestions that kept coming up seemed either tacky or contrived.

Then I stumbled across Big Dipper / Little Dipper matching outfits for dad and munchkin. Twee? Most definitely. But still better than tacky or contrived.

For Makery reasons, I considered screen printing this, but there was a little logistical issue with getting some opaque printing ink to use on dark fabric. I already have a stash of ink from a different project that would be completely unsuitable, and couldn’t justify buying another tub for a one-shot, not knowing when I would get around to screen printing again. That, and it would have been a little tricky to get this done on the sly because I wanted to make this an anniversary gift. Would be a bit hard to explain why the screen printing gear was out.

So out came a skill I haven’t used since my tweens: embroidery. Easy to hide, and not much equipment needed. Just an embroidery hoop, needle and thread, and tailors’ chalk. And a little youtube refresher on embroidery stitches.

It’s a little amateurish from lack of practice, but I think it turned out well. And I’m kinda looking forward to seeing them both worn. I’d forgotten how relaxing it is, and have a few ideas for some future projects.

Hubby also hung these up on our wall for our baby shower / BBQ which was a pretty inspired decorating idea.

If you’re looking for a matching outfit gift for mum and/or dad and bub(s), this is a pretty neat option, and the difficulty will depend on the design you choose. It’s quite easy and quick to do for constellations, but I've seen some pretty neat options on Pinterest if you want to up the ante on the difficulty level.