Sewing poly mesh onion sacks together to make grass catcher bags

bjr · May 23, 2013

What the end goal is. To be able to make my own grass catcher bags for garden tractor mowers. The OEM bags are out sight expensive for what they gotta do. So the mesh type onion sacks are readily available and what I'm gonna do is sew two sets of two sacks end to end or overlap a little then cross lay the two sacks in a cross then sew up the edges in a box with a open end. The sacks are approximately 22 x 33 inches. I will make my own rectangle frame out of some lightweight 1/2" tubing to attach to the catcher top hanger. My sewing idea is to use like long knitting needles or small diameter rod with a drilled hole to pull the twin thru the mesh. Just kinda every two inches or so (skip sewing). The idea for the mesh is so the mower air flow goes thru the bag and the lawn clipping goes to bottom of the bags. Any idea on twine type (braided fishing line maybe)? What style or kind of needle would be best? I'm kinda thinking about using some corrugated tin with slots cut across the corrugation to make kind of a loom. One piece of corrugation laid on top of the other with material sandwiched between then shove to needle thru the slots with the twine attached to make the joint. I'm tryin' to make this simple and quick to make replacement grass catcher bags. Any imaginative souls out there? Kind of a cottage industry type deal. Ideas welcomed. bjr

aczlan · May 23, 2013

I would buy some cheap 2" wide strapping, fold it over the top and run a sewing machine around the whole thing twice. Then add some grommets and/or a drawstring as needed to attach it.
But then I have a sewing machine and a grommet installer...

Aaron Z

Western · May 23, 2013

If someone could come up with a frame that would hold the super heavy lawn trash bags, load them with clippings as you mow, then place at the curb!! I mulch so I threw my catcher away.

bjr · May 23, 2013

I'm really flyin' in the dark here. So, if I ask really dumb questions bare with me. What kind of sewing machine do you have? Is it some kind of industrial upholstery machine or just a home owner generic type? I'm not opposed to machine sewing, I just don't know where to start? Is the strapping something I could pickup from a fabric shop? bjr

aczlan · May 23, 2013

I have an old brother sewing machine ($5 thrift store special) and I use the heaviest thread I could get ("Quilting" thread IIRC) with a large needle (#16 IIRC).
Nothing special or commercial about it. Not much to sewing through 2 layers of light nylon strap and a layer or two fo onion bag, less work than sewing a patch on a pair of jeans.

Aaron Z

bjr · May 23, 2013

Something just went off in my head (yeah, it did kind of hurt). Why not build the header lid to fit maybe 4 standard onion or corn produce sacks that have the cinch strap. Home owner just fills the sack and cinch ties the top and set out at the curb. The sacks have be mesh or some kind of open fabric so the high volume of air flow can push the clippings into it. Yes, there would be a expense of the bags a trade off of convenience. The open mesh would alloy decay once in the land fill. No sewing involved. Now to figure out a manifold style header top that a bag could be connected (hooked) into. Maybe some large diameter PVC pipe rings with second ring (band) to cinch the bags around. What ya think? I'm thinking about materials that can be put together without machine shop tools. bjr