I know this is probably a stupid question, but here goes: I want to try my hand at some brush embroidery. Where do you find the templates with which to do the piping?

I think you can use fondant cutters to gently mark your surface. Or cut paper templates to trace around. I'm sure the experts freehand it- not me!

You can start off using cookie cutters, flower/leaf cutters, or even just scratching a pattern with a dresden tool or scriber on a piece of fondant. You can also make a pattern by piping royal icing on a cake circle, let it get hard, flip it over, then press into your fondant that way. Whatever you use, just lightly apply with slight pressure to leave a small indentation which you can then pipe on to start your embroidery.
I haven't dabbled too much with it though. Maybe others have other ideas...

Thanks for the great ideas! I love the look of the brushed embroidery. I'll be doing it on buttercream, and not fondant, so it'll be a real challenge!

Great question, KayMc - I plan on trying brush embroidery for my grandmother's birthday cake next week. I'm planning on printing out a photo (I have found some by searching for rose images on google - you can specify 'line drawings' - basically just the outline of the flower) and then tracing it onto something clear with royal icing in order to use it as a stamp on the buttercream. I am unsure, though, what to trace it on to. Does anyone have any suggestions? At first I thought maybe doing it onto something like a transparency sheet so that I maybe could curve it better to follow the cake, but I think I've read that people use something heavier, like plexiglass.