After many trials and errors, I have the dress finished, finally! I wish I had bought a Jalie pattern instead of a Kwik-Sew, but I'm a very impatient person, lol. I like instant gratification and Hancock Fabrics had the Kwik-Sew in stock and on sale, which apparently is a rare occurrence. I'll wait until Jalie has a sale and buy their pattern next time because I did not like using the Kwik-sew patterns. Maybe I'm just an elitist, but I felt the construction was amateurish.
Had to redo the entire top because the pattern was for flat-chested waifs, even though the sizing said it would be okay and that the pattern was supposed to fit snugly. It was uncomfortably tight on DD - she had trouble lifting her arms, which is bad for her catch foot spirals. I wasn't happy with the Kwik-Sew construction, so I remade the upper bodice with a full facing/lining instead of the applied-elastic neckline. I also remade the sleeve pattern because she wanted puffed sleeves instead of the little cap sleeves.
Now I get to do the fun stuff -
We have a bead/stone design chosen for the bodice using the stones I found on clearance at AC Moore. I also bought a few strings of Swarovski teardrop beads that will give the top design some "swing." I want to put them on the sleeves as well as the bodice.
I bought fringe at Joann's during a valued customer / coupon sale. They were so very nice - I picked out the wrong color from a partial bolt at one store and when I went to another store to get some more, they agreed with me that the darker color would be better. So Store B let me return over 7 yards of trim from Store A without even batting an eye - I couldn't believe how nice they were, assuring me it was no trouble at all. I figured the inventory would be a problem for them at the end of the month.
The final cost of the fringe was around $3.50/yard and they had a brand-new bolt of the dark red fringe, so the bottom string was still intact! (Skate@Delaware is right: that string makes it much easier to manage.) DD wants it around the skirt only, so I'm planning that now.