You're right, Michelle, I am sewing full-time.  All the little AS self-addressed postcards I included  - "if you need more let me know..." - are coming home and are keeping me pretty busy!

As for fabric, last year I searched extensively, but didn't find what I considered perfect fabrics (although I used some woodland too!).   WalMart had a near perfect olive drab for $2.44 (I think it's up to $2.87 this year) which I used quite a bit of, but I finally have settled on making them all out of JoAnn's 45" tea-dyed muslin.   Regular price is $2.49, but sign up at the register and you'll receive monthly bulletins with coupons, so bolts of 25 yds can be ordered at 40% (and sometimes 50%) off.  You can order multiple bolts, as well, I've ordered as much as 150 yards that way.  Incidentally, WalMart will also order whole bolts for you, the olive drab comes in 10 yard bolts, I believe.

I am disappointed to learn that under hard use, the ties only last 4-6 weeks.  I guess I should re-think where I should send the ones I'm sewing now (as soon as postcards stop coming! LOL) 

On the sand scarves  (I've wondered what they are and how to make them! - glad to see instructions here!) my machine is an old Singer 211, and does not do zig-zag.  A straight line of tight stitching should be good enough to stop fraying, shouldn't it? 

Happy Sewing! 

Hey Ginny!  Your Awesome!  Thanks for taking time out to share your wisdom!  My Singer is the 401 Slant-O-Matic that came out in 1958.  Mama taught me to sew on it.  She made all our clothes [herself & five kids].  StepDad bought her a new one about the same time I started my own family, so she gave it to me.  It is my most cherished possession!  I have no desire for a serger, do you?  I think your tight strait stitch will be fine; you could really give your grip a workout by using pinking shears . .  UGH . . . but, wait a second, the fabric for the scarves is knit which doesn't tend to fray like woven so ditch the pinking shears idea; I'm sure the straight stitch will not be critiqued by a grateful recipient!!!

Thanks so much for the tip about JoAnn's!!!  I haven't been in a JoAnn's since they left town.  [Last time was my daughter's first prom and she's 24 now].  They still have locations about an hour away and I'll definitely make the trip and register for the bulletins!!

I'm working on a batch of ties now for an Old Contact who will be hitting the ground in Iraq soon.  My Adult A.D.D. [lol] has kicked in and I'm ready to switch over to . . . oh . . . maybe the helmet coolers.  Have you done those?  I think it's a 7" circle with a 1/2 tsp. of polymer.  Thanks again!  Now get back to work!  LOL

VickiV:

It has to be 100% cotton.  The cotton will just burn it doesn't melt like synthetics.  Many of the burn injuries have been complicated by soldiers wearing synthetics that melt into their skin.

TRUE!!!  As a civilian, I cannot comment about how the GVMT chooses to equip their 'property', but as a wife and mama, I would never put something that melts around-the-neck of one of my own.

Thanks everyone - lots of very helpful info. I did think that 100% cotton was the way to go, but it seems odd that sites sell "regulation" fabrics that are blends. This will be my big weekend project. I vaguely remember how the sewing machine works...this will be interesting.  lol 

I just have to tell a funny story about cool ties.

A Marine contact of mine who shall remain nameless received 40 cool ties from me for him and his guys.  I forgot to include the instructions on how to use them in the box.  Also, part of this shipment with a 'Keep Cool' theme was ice pops and. Dentyne Ice chewing gum.  I e-mailed the instructions to my Marine the day after I shipped the box. 

Well, folks, keep in mind these guys have a million things on their minds so he read the e-mailed instructions on preparation and use of cool ties, and it went in and out of his brain in about 30 seconds.  So days later when he receives my shipment, he puts the ice pops AND the cool ties in the freezer!  The Marines LOVED the ice pops, no one was very impressed with the cool ties AT ALL til my friend and fellow AS junkie shipped the 2nd batch of 60 cool ties WITH instructions IN the box and my Marine was like 'DUH!  No wonder they didn't work!!!'  Now they are happily soaking the cool ties in ice water in a cooler for 15 minutes and then taking off on patrol wearing them.  And now they are REALLY impressed at how well those little suckers work!!!

 Lilly

So am I!! I got a bunch on ebay... can't sew a button... and had to try it out. So i used one myself to mow the grass last weekend. Holy cow! Really a difference. Mailing the rest over this week! Shelly

Cute story, Lilly!  I have about 2 dozen made up and ready to send this week.  With another 2 dozen cut out waiting to be sewn.

I was skeptical about them, too, until my a/c unit died yesterday in 100+ degree Texas heat & humidity.  I felt a little guilty stealing from my soldier stash - but I wore one around the house all day.  It really helped cool me down!

And having gone with out a/c for just one day, it gave me a new appreciation for our guys who do it EVERY day.  I think I shall be sewing a little faster this week.....

Michelle and others:

 Maybe I am too late with this - but to save a bit of time -you can register with JoAnn.com and get your coupons in your e-mail.  You might get 2 kinds of mailings (e-mail ones - one good on line and the other in stores.  And if you are going sooner than that - takes a while to start - I can forward mine.  That seems to work.

By the way - where are you in CO?  We spend the summer at Gunnison (blue Mesa Reservoir).  It is a long way to JoAnn's from here!

Hey Dorothy!  Sorry that I'm late to reply . . . wow really late.  First, thanks for the coupon offer.  I did get signed up at JoAnn.com, but I'm still not in a big hurry to get there.  I still have a huge stock pile of fabric that I'm working on.

Blue Mesa is nice!  I am 175 miles East of you.  My avatar photo is from my back door.

Hi, Ginny!  It's great to know you are still sewing up a storm. 

Not being a seamstress myself, I don't know a whole lot about fabrics.  Is flannel 100 per cent cotton?  My sister-in-law made some cool ties with flannel in a camo dinosaur pattern.  Very cute!  I have some camo frog flannel I was going to ask her to turn into cool ties for me, but I don't know if the fiber content is suitable.  I do know my guys used the flannel ones we sent last year with no complaints.

Hi, Janet! 

I'm no seamstress, either, but I read that flannel can be cotton, a cotton blend, or wool.  I have no idea what the "blend" might be?  Flannel is noted for its ability to absorb and release perspiration, it is soft and it drapes well, and is durable, all good qualities for coolties.  I suppose a burn test would be your best bet to assure the fabric doesn't have synthetics? 

Hi, all,

A lot of flannel is all synthetic--think children's prints--because of the restrictions on flammability of children's sleepwear. I think it should be easy to distinguish it from all cotton. The burn test is a good idea. Isn't it strange that what we consider safer for soldiers is considered more dangerous for children.

Mellie 

The way I understand it, cotton flannel will flare up quickly when flame is applied, but synthetic smolders slowly and melts.  I don't know what happens to various blends.  I have a cousin who was wearing a cotton flannel gown near an open gas heater when it caught fire in the early '50s and she got a pretty bad burn on the back of her leg.  Since she had her back to the heater, she didn't know at first that the gown had caught fire.  That is the reason for having nonflammable clothes for children I think.  They are small, and not as aware of their actions.

Gran