I "Royally"  stink at piping, I've watched many You tube toots, and they all make it look so easy!  I end up with my royal too thick or too thin!  I need Piping for dummies, any suggestions?  Oh and please don't say watch Elaine Macgregor's tutorials, because that woman has Jedi level piping skills and she makes it looks so effortless, like she was piping in the womb!

How is this done??????????????????????

Some basic knowledge of how the "right" consistency of any kind of icing feels has to be learned by trial and error (or in a PME class). Some of us got that at our mothers knees and other joints.

Royal icing consistency is easy to control when you make it the British way.

Start with 3 "large" egg whites and a pound of powdered sugar (have some extra from a second pound handy). Let the egg whites come to room temperature after you have separated the yolks.  Add a 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (powder) and beat on medium speed.  Add the whole of the first pound of sugar slowly and keep beating until the icing can hold a soft peak when you pull up a spot with a table knife. It should take 15 minutes of beating, DO NOT whip at high speed.

That is justabout your ideal consistency for borders.  Add a little more sugar for flowers, how much will depend on what kind.  Soften for stringwork and leaves by adding corn syrup.

Then the only way to get better is to pipe for an hour every day.  Fill up an icing bag and practise practise practise. If you use a coupler then you can make some borders and some flowers from the icing.  It is best to use the Wilton icing that has shortening sugar and water, because it can be scraped off and re-used.

It's called brush embroidery. You pipe the outline and then brush some of the RI to the inside. Please see http://youtu.be/nW0kxZ8wK4Y

(I see that two of us were answering you at the same time!)

Thanks guys!  I am doing a cake on the 23rd and I think I will try this method, must start practicing this instant!!

Here's my first attempt, I think my icing was either too thin or my piping tip was too wide...

AKisamarie, if that is your first attempt to do brush embroidery , you should be very proud of yourself. I can't wait to see your work in the future.

AThank you Rusti! I think I need to get my consistency right and then it won't look so shloppy! Lol, I'll post pics when I have it down pat :)

Thanks for the link Shanter.  I watched how to do this yesterday but the video on your link was much better.
 

Yes Shanter Thank you, that video was really great, she makes it look so effortless!

Here's my final product after a ton of practicing!!

A

Well done! That is really good work for someone that's having trouble. You'll be a pro in no time with more practice.

I too love the look of royal icing it's such a skill, but I don't have the time to practice, I really need to when I have time.

Thanks Meriem!  I went to a site I got off of pinterest called lovelytutorials.com and there are a lot of really pretty templates on there!