I only use my Garden blower vac in the Autumn. Fall is a USA and Canada thing. So I got my Blower Vac out and started turning all the neighbors falling leaves that blow over onto my place into lovely fine mulch for my garden and half way through disaster strikes and the bag starts to leak.

So I pull out my needle and thread and start to sew. Quickly I realise this bag is falling apart faster than I can sew it back together.

Replacement bags are a 20 minute drive away and they cost around half what a new blower vac would cost and I would have to leave the house go to the hardware store and they might not have them in stock and I might see something else I like and forget the original reason I went there and .....you know how it goes.

Step 1: Envisage a Solution

I looked around at my available stuff and an old pair of trousers sprang to hand. The old bag was held on with a zip tie - I got plenty of those - not quite long enough but joining two together will be fine. An old shoe lace would have been fine as well but I didn't have any old shoes.

The only other tool I need is a pair of scissors and something to hold the end together. Have I got a bulldog clip or something?...Probably.

Step 2: Cut Thread and Attach

Cut off one trouser leg.

Make a small hole in the hem - nice and handy for threading around.that zip tie.

I probably did not need to turn things inside out and then join them and turn them back right way round but I did. It keeps that loose end on the inside.

Step 3: Close Off the End and Get Vacuuming

If I had more time maybe I would have sewn in a draw string or a zipper. Maybe not as I don't know how long this little baby is going to last.

I had a bit of fun testing folding over techniques. Just about every method I could think of worked as long as it trapped the full width of the end. Maybe I just got lucky with the quality of the clip.

I had to run it once with the end open to blow out the dust that was clogging the finer material of the trouser leg and it holds about half what the original bag did but it works and was essentially free so all things considered a job well done.

Maybe the leaf hog snout would be better but it did look like a whole lot more work.

Post Script - I went to the Hardware store where they sell this brand and (in Australian Dollars) the replacement bag is listed on their website for $34.98 but the hardware store had none in stock. They have the full blower vac, (including the bag) on sale for $29.95. The world has gone mad.