I'm going to be making my first 2 tier Topsy Turvy cake (bottom tier 9" and top tier 7") this weekend and I have a couple of questions on how you guys do it.

Do you carve a hole in the bottom tier to sit the tier above tier in or do you just angle both tiers?  Do you use dowels for stability and should they go all the way through both tiers or just sticking out from the bottom one enough to sit the top tier on?

Hope this makes sense and any help would be appreciated!

Personally, I do the carving a wedge method and don't angle the tiers. It's more stable when everything is level and I always go for stability. When you do it that way you basically stack the tiers the normal way, then add a piece around the side of each tier to make it look like it's angled. The tiers should be a little taller than normal so that the tier that's on the top still looks like it's tall after having part of it covered up...Does that make sense?

It does indeed, thank you Costumeczar!  I will be giving it a go this weekend so fingers crossed!