Just wondering if I am using icer tip properly. Do you overlap on the sides? What I mean is there isnt enough height on the cake to do 2 stripes of it without overlaping the icing. Is that how everyone does it? Is there some tricks to using the icer tip?
Merissa, first I do the sides of the cake lining up the tip with the bottom of the cake for a neat finish. One stripe is enough for a sheet cake. I use the icing tip in a series of stripes to do the top of the cake. I do the two outer edges, then I start striping the inside of the cake. I usually have a tiny space in between each stripe because once you smooth it over with the spatula, there is usually frosting to spare to fill in those holes.
This forum has a lot of mixed feelings on that tip. Seems people love it or hate it.
I only have rounds right now, so it is a little taller than a sheet probably.
I absolutely love the icing tip. I used to just blob my icing on my cake and try to smooth it out. Then I discovered that tip, and it saves me so much time and my cakes always look more even after icing them. I too, start with the bottom and go around. If it's a double layer cake, then I start the second layer right above the first one. It usually stands higher than the height of my cake, but then I use a smoother/scraper to pull it down over the top edge and smooth out the cake after I've striped the top. This seems to work incredibly well for me and saves so much time. I could never go back to the old way of smoothing with my cake spatulas.
With rounds I usually do the top first, then start from the bottom on the sides and work my way up. If I do end up overlapping, no big deal--just scrape of the excess. Also, when I get to the top, if the icing goes on with excess sticking up (icing standing up on the top edge of the cake), I just take my spatula and spread the excess to the top side. Gosh does that make sense at all?
I overlap my icing stripes if the cake isn't high enough for 2 (or 3 or 4 depending o nthe height). I also like to have some falling over the top edge draping down a little to get the corners covered. Then, just hit it with a bench scraper or in my case, a large plastic putty/plaster knife thing! I love the cake icer tip!
Just a note for anyone that's never used it before... make sure the serrated edge is pressing up against the cake the whole time or your icing will fall off the side of your cake! Found that out the hard way and I'm hoping others can learn from MY mistake...not their own! 
Diana
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