after my 2nd attempt at covering a round cake with fondant, i am still getting folds at the bottom of my cake! how do i avoid these folds???

As you are smoothing the fondant on the sides, pull out a bit at the bottom over the edge of the cake board...

HTH

Jen

i've tried that.. pulling more fondant over the edge of the cake board... but there always seems to be too much fondant to go around the cake and then i still get folds

smooth DOWN from the top, not side to side when getting the folds out.

Tiptop's top tip

Think - - - fluff out like the hem of a wedding dress! Poof!

Then lift (but not too high), smooth from the top and fluff out the bottom. Lift then smooth the sides, and fluff out the bottom - - - lift, smooth, fluff - - - lift, smooth, fluff - - - lift, smooth, fluff - - - lift, smooth, fluff - - - work out those folds - - - lift smooth fluff.

When you get really close to the bottom, use a pizza cutter wheel and cut some excess and continue, lift smooth fluff till the bottom is smooth and you can cut the rest of the excess

HTH

hmmm i see. so if i smooth out from the top, when i go around the cake & start pressing the fondant against the cake/icing, there won't be folds at the bottom?

You might be rolling your fondant too thin. It should be between 1/8 to 1/4 in thick. Also, try putting your cake on a board the same size as your cake and then raising it up on a can or a bowl so that the fondant folds fall below the cake, then you can just trim them off.
HTH
Renae

It could be maybe you're using an insuffiecient amount of fondant.

The same thing happened to me and when I started rolling extra fondant, it comes out perfect now.
Just make sure you roll out an extra 3-4 inches from the original size of the pan for the sides of the cake.

HTH

i'll try these techniques next time! thanks guys!