Floral print fabrics have always announced the arrival of spring. A spring must-have - the adaptable tote bag, is coming into its own as a style-conscious accessory and can be made fresh and new for 2008 using textiles printed in all the glorious colors in vogue for this season.

The Pantone Fashion Color Report for Spring 2008 features the top 10 colors for this spring are Golden Olive, Spring Crocus, Rococco Red, Pink Mist, Croissant, Freesia, Cantaloupe, Daiquiri Green, Snorkel Blue, and Silver Gray. The mix of mostly classic versatile neutrals paired with new color brights allow for an eye-catching combination.

Fabric totes are useful for carrying all manner of things - library books or groceries, mall or market shopping, snacks and treats for a mini picnic in the park, baby necessities, comfy shoes or sneaks for after-work or lunch-time walking, beach items, craft supplies, and much, much more.

Totes can be made from just about any kind of new fabric yardage (twill cotton works great) or even thrifted material (think old jeans, no-longer-in-use sturdy curtains, old paint-splashed canvas tarps). Totes can be lined with contrasting fabric or vinyl and embellished with creative handles. Bet you cant make just one!

Girls Spring Mini Tote – tutorial by Betz White on Blog.betzwhite.com

Charmed Spring Tote – designed by Marsha Evans Moore, project featured on Michaels.com

A TOTE-ally easy way to help the Earth - tutorial from Instructables.com

One Yard, One Hour Tote Bag by Joan Hawley from blog Lazygirldesigns.com

Terrific Tote Bag – by Alix Graham-Michel, Husqvarna, Viking Education Consultant scroll down on Whitesewing.com’s project of the month site.

Classic Open Tote, Project #8 from the book Hold It! How to Sew Bags, Totes, Duffels, Pouches, & More by Nancy Restuccia

McCall’s patterns - search for design numbers M3136, M5403 and M5362 - numerous totes and bags to sew. From Mccallpattern.com

Simplicity patterns – search for design numbers 9658, 9779 and 9949 – many totes and their accessories to sew. From Simplicity.com

Fabric tote bags are environmentally friendly as they are reusable, recyclable and can reduce our reliance on plastic grocery and market bags which have impacted our environment in so many detrimental ways. We can reduce our carbon footprint by keeping a few totes handy to bag groceries, to use at local open air markets or to carry a gift for that someone special. According to Morsbags.com, over one million plastic grocery-type bags are consumed per minute globally. See Morsbags for more info and how to make your own eco-friendly tote.

As always, please respect individual copyrights.

Sew happy, sew well.

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