Happy birthday, dear Clementine!

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She's four today! Yay!!! *kermit arms*

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Wait, how did she get so BIG??? *sobs*

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Birthdays are a mixed bag. On the one hand, I'm so proud of what a fun, silly, smart, capable girl she is becoming. On the other hand, I wish she would always stay my little baby. You know? Yes, you know.

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This is the birthday dress I made for her, a simple shirred design with bows on the shoulders. I la-la-love it! I think Clementine has always been particularly cute in yellow. She's been wearing another shirred sundress that I made for her last fall quite a bit lately, mainly because it's easy to get on and off by herself. So rather than go with something complicated and time-consuming, I decided to make something similar. The actual dress part took about 15 minutes (sew a rectangle together at the sides, finish top and bottom, sew shirring around the top); the bows took a bit longer to make and attach, but overall it was a quick and easy sew. If you're looking to do something similar, do check out my shirred sunsuit post for an intro to shirring and a similar design (skip the leg holes, of course, for a dress), minus the bows.

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Fabric: Lecien double gauze...possibly one of the most lovely solid double gauzes out there. As far as I know this double gauze is no longer available anywhere except at Pink Castle, so you'll have to get it before it's gone if you want some for yourself!

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And here's a peek at the "rainbow cake" I made for her party. Compared to the effort I put into her cake last year, this was ridiculously easy, so I'm feeling rather clever and smug about it, if we must be honest.

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