Just like HollyPJ, I am having trouble with the icing bulging out between the layers. I have been decorating for over 17 years, and this has only just started happening in the past couple of years. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong or differently. I do not use a large amount of icing between the layers (no other filling), I crumb coat them first and it fills in between the layers and then I even scoop out a little hollow between them before using an icer tip. I tried the Melvira method today, thinking it might help, but it only made it worse! Any other suggestions? I really am stumped on this one!
pipe a very stiff dam first and then fill with icing......
Yes.. what she said. Add extra PS to your icing and make it nice and stiff.. pipe the damn dam 
.. and then fill. It's hard to be patient and wait for your cake to settle before you frost it, but it really helps.. just wait an hour while gravity does it's evil thing and then frost.. scraping off any buldges first.
I always bake the day before so it has time to settle. Do you mean ice between them and then let it sit an hour or so before crumb coating and icing? I thought maybe crumb coating might be adding too much icing between the edges of the layers and then putting more with the icer tip is just too much.
This is what I do.. I bake a day ahead so that the cakes have time to cool and do their thing.. I level and fill with a stiff dam around filling and press on the cake to make sure it sits level.. cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour.. if nothing has buldged by that time nothing will (if your cakes aren't COLD). Then I'll crumb coat (if i do that step at all) and frost the cake. Letting it sit out for a whiel to settle is good if you have a softer filling like a fruit or a whipped cream filling. If you are using just plain old buttercream (mmmmmmmm mmm good) maybe it's not stiff enough? How thick of a layer are you putting between the layers? Butter cream usually doesn't give me a problem with buldging at all like the other fillings can.
Yes, I'm just using buttercream. Hmmm. maybe it is just too soft of consistency. Could it be that I am not putting a thick enough layer of icing on the sides? To be honest, I've never used a dam of icing if I'm not using a different filling, I don't see the purpose. I'll try making a stiff dam tomorrow, and see what happens. How close to the edge do you put your dam?
about 1/4 inch from the edge. I don't normally put a dam for buttercream either which makes me think maybe it's too thin? What type of BC do you use? I know the new crisco has been giving people issues with the consistency of their icing. It has been suggested to add a couple TBS of cornstarch to help. Good luck. I hate it when things don't go the way I want it too..
Pipe the dam with really stiff buttercream about 1/4-1/2 inch from the edge of the cake. I use an open coupler. Then fill. This will help hold the filling in -buttercream, fruit, etc. I then press the top down and then I pipe another stripe around the "seam" as added insurance but mostly so I won't have a "cake line" around the side (learned this trick here on CC). I then crumb coat and let sit at least a couple of hours (preferably overnight though) so that the cake can settle. Then I ice and decorate.
Good luck!
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