O.k. I've been working with fondant for a little while and I do make MMF. I have been having issues lately (had them befre, just not near as bad) with cutting fondant with my exacto knife and flower cutters, I have severe jagged edges on my cuts, or the flowers don't seem to cut all the edge off. I have to go in with a tool to smooth(if it's possible) out the extra pieces that are left between the petals. What am I doing wrong? I tried applying a little shortening before cutting or cutting out-didn't work, tried adding a little more starch or ps, that just dries it out and makes it look wrinkled and jagged. I do press the cutter down and wiggle just a bit for the smooth edges-NOPE not happening! I don't "saw" my cuts either. Help! I have daises and butterflies to make to put on a cake and they all stink!

It really just sounds like you need to press harder and wriggle your cutters a lot more when you cut. Or if you are using metal cutters and they were a little bent out of shape the cutting edge may not be making contact with your work surface all the way around, although it sounds like you're having problems with all your cutters not just one or two, so that's probably unlikely. To solve the problem you could run your finger or small rolling pin over the cutting edge before removing the cut-out (if that makes sense - ?)

Are you rolling your fondant thin enough? It sounds to me like it could be just a bit thick which would cause the cutters to snag.

i have tried thick and thin, thinking this may too be the problem, but either way it still does it. Also the cutters, it's usually the plastic ones that leave the shaggy edges. But I also have the problem with the exacto knife too. Could it be my mmf?

the plastic cutters tend to loose their sharp edge quite easily so i'd be sure to stick to metal cutters when making cuts. also, when is the last time you changed the blade on your exacto? when i construct scale model building in my architectural classes, we are required to change our blade every 7-10 strokes. this is extreme for a soft medium such as fondant or gumpaste, but i would suggest changing the blade every cake or every other cake at least. the blades are extremely sharp and must remain that way to make sharp cuts hth!