I've seen pictures of really great looking tote bags made of linen, decorated with calendar towel stripes. I think I saw these on Interweave.com. They sell individual pattern from Stitch magazine for about 4$.I just deleted the e-letter with their link, I'll check if I can find the link for you.
I found it, the pattern is on Sale for 2.80 but looks easy enough to sew .
http://www.interweavestore.com/Sewin...sionThemeID=22