Kids' dress sizing assumes every kid is the same shape. They are not. If I buy the right width for Cleo, it's too short (bike shorts poking out the bottom). If I buy the right length, it's swimming on her. Sizing up is not a solution. Nor is professionally tailoring a $20 dress from Target.
So I bought sweater clips. The kind your grandmother uses to hold a cardigan closed. They're meant for old ladies and shawls and I am using them to cinch the back of Cleo's dresses at the waist. One clip, gathered fabric, done. From the front she looks like she's wearing a dress that fits. All the bunching is in the back where nobody's looking.
I tried two sets. The corded cinch clips are probably fine for their intended purpose (holding a cardigan together on an adult) but the metal clasps are stiff and the whole thing is too bulky for a kid's dress. It looks like you clipped a mitten clip to the back of a 5-year-old. Returned.
The daisy chain clips are the winner. Small alligator clasps on each end, connected by a little chain of enamel flowers. Easy to clip, sits flat, and honestly looks like it belongs on a kid's dress. They come in a 2-pack. We'll see how they stand up to all-day play and I shall report back.
ALSO - I couldn't find a single product on Amazon or Etsy that's designed for this. Sweater clips exist. Dress clips exist. But "make your kid's too-wide dress actually fit in 3 seconds" clips? Nobody's making those. Someone with a little more craft ambition than me should take a stab at it. Small, flat, cute, normal kid color assortment, maybe with a little silicone grip so it doesn't slide on jersey fabric. I'd buy it tomorrow.
Until then, grandma sweater clips.
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