Hey there, I'm a total newb slowly working through my first corset and thus far thanks to the articles here and plenty of hours spent watching re-watching YouTube videos it's going splendidly.

I've finally cut my "real" fabrics and I'm patiently hand basting my fashion fabric to the twill (yeah I know, twill isn't coutil etc, etc). I have all my bias strips cut to make my external bone casings and I'm starting to second guess my decision to make them out of the brocade, but it's dense and I cut them wide enough that they'll easily be two layers thick throughout. I don't plan to wear this corset for much other than special occasions, nights out, things that rarely happen in my life, so I think it should be fine.

My way of thinking is always to work smarter, not harder, so I got to thinking, could I just sew the casings on as I go? There are a few places I'll have casings that aren't on the seams, so why not sew those in place before I sew those panels together? I figure that would mean less fabric under the machine when I'm trying to do the more difficult sewing. Same with the ones at the seams, could I not just sew the panel together, add the casing?

I realize of course this might mean several needle/thread changes which I loathe, I know of an upholsterer who charges clients extra if he has to change bobbins, but I thought it might be worth it in the end.

Oh, it's probably worth mentioning that I plan to use the wrong sides together approach so I realize that in order to tack the allowances down I'll have the waist tape flapping about as I work, but I feel like that would be more manageable.

Thoughts anyone?

Absolutely you can apply casings which don't cross seam allowances before you've put the whole thing together. Definitely don't try to catch the waist tape in those seams - it would be nearly impossible to get the tension on the waist tape lined up properly. It should be plenty firm just stitched under the on-seam bone casings.

Have fun!

Oh, good thinking! Thanks for the advice on only sewing the waist tape to the seams.

Of course!

Some people like to sew waist tapes to the body of the corset, rather than just catching it under the bone casings. If you wanted to experiment with that, you'd have two options: either wait until the whole thing is put together to add the waist tape and then all the bone casings (sewing all bone casings over the waist tape); or sew the in-panel casings on first, construct the corset, and then sew on the waist tape, breaking stitching over the already-mounted casings.

Anyway, have fun! Show us the pretty when you're done!