I bought this set at Michaels for my first scrollwork cake.
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30D891-475A-BAC0-51DF77778B7B0CDF&fid=3E32BDAD-475A-BAC0-5EF8EA589AD96C4F
It worked well and I felt better knowing I just had to trace the pattern. I hope that helps!
I'm betting that you're doing the scrolls slow, being careful, so you get them perfect? Moving your hand slow will make them look bad. You'll get better results if you move your hand faster. Less shaking, smoother lines.
Loucinda has a great idea..... draw them out on paper and practice. The faster you can trace them with your piping bag, the better they'll look. 
Thanks for the ideas. My son in law to be is an artist and he is going to use a toothpick to lightly make the design on the cake so all I have to do is pipe over this. That's my problem, I'm not steady and it looks bad. I'll try going faster-maybe that will help.
What should my consistency be, should it be royal or BC with piping gel? Do I start with tip on cake and then lift up or pipe directly on?
thanks again
Now, I think your tip has to touch slightly - so you have some control as to where the icing goes. If you are not touching the cake at all, it would be hard to control where it lands for the scrollwork. (that is what you want it to do when doing drop strings, but I like having control of it when I am doing the scrollwork)
Now, I think your tip has to touch slightly - so you have some control as to where the icing goes. If you are not touching the cake at all, it would be hard to control where it lands for the scrollwork. (that is what you want it to do when doing drop strings, but I like having control of it when I am doing the scrollwork)
I've done scroll work a few times -- using both buttercream and royal icing. I prefer royal icing. It just dries so much smoother and will hide some of the mistakes a shaky hand can make. Just be careful when transporting the cake, if you use RI. It can break off easily!
I use either buttercream or royal, they both need to be thinned so the icing string doesn't break as you're piping. I find it much easier to use a small bag and hold it like I would a pencil or pen. Touch the tip down initially to secure the icing in place onto the cake and then hover about about 1/16", enough so the icing connects but doesn't drag through the cake icing ( does that make sense? ). And practice on a practice board at an incline as well. It is much different to pipe scroll on the sides verses the top of a cake.
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