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Before we can start piping we must discuss how to hold and position your pastry bag. Along with frosting consistency, holding your bag correctly is important or your decorations will be difficult to make and will not look right in the end.  Each piping technique will define a time and degree. The time tells us where to hold the bag . The degree tells us how the bag is angled. Together they tell us how the bag is to be held and position.  There's a little bit of math terms involved, such as “angles” and “degrees,” but trust me it’s easy… I will show you. In this context, "degrees" references angles, thus the angle to position the bag. Now let's talk about HOW your bag should be angled. Typically you’ll only hear about 2 degrees: 90 degrees and 45 degrees  That was pretty easy to understand, right? 90 degrees is holding your bag straight up and down 45 degrees is holding your bag in between... Now let's talk about WHERE to hold the bagWhen you angle your bag at 90 degrees (straight up and down) you will not always have a time to hold the bag at (like when you are writing words, you will hold the bag straight up and down, a.k.a. 90 degrees, but the bag will be positioned wherever you are writing the letter; however, when we are piping a daisy, we will hold the tip upright at 90 degrees but start the tip at 12:00) However, when you angle your bag at 45 degrees, there are different TIMES (referencing a clock) to hold your bag at.  Picture the face of the clock to be the top of your cake, or whatever your work surface may be. The most common times to "hold your bag at" are 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00. You stand at 6:00. 12:00 is directly across from you and feels odd - if it doesn't feel odd then you are not doing it right. 3:00 will have your hand upside down (knuckles upwards). 6:00 will have your thumb knuckle pointing towards your body 9:00 willl have your knuckles downwards (pointing towards the floor). 3:00 and 9:00 are opposite for those that are left handed. When you are practicing regularly stop yourself and check your angle and "time" to make sure you didn't accidentally change the position. It is very easy to change your position and you don't want to do that. Get in the habit of checking your position over and over. A different position will have a different outcome. Still troubleshooting? Check the consistency of your frosting ;-) The tutorial should tell you if the frosting should be thin, medium or stiff. Click here to read more about consistencies. MORE about dominant hands: If a tutorial does not specify the working hand, then assume it describes a right hand. 12:00 and 6:00 is the same for everyone. But all other times should be mirrored for the left handed. Imagine the mirror to be a straight placed vertically in the center (running from 12:00 to 6:00). For example: 1:00 right handed; 11:00 for left handed 3:00 right handed; 9:00 for left handed 4:00 right handed; 8:00 for left handed and so on... Make sense? Great! Let's start piping!
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