How to Patch Blue Jeans and Work Pants for Longer Wear

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By littlezelma
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Not necessarily pretty - but it is durable!

Many people work in tough jobs that results in major wear and tear on their trousers, pants and work jeans. In today's economic predicament, it is simply not wise to throw out an otherwise good pair of pants because of a hole in the knee. Here's a way to patch them that, though not pretty, will certainly lengthen the life of a pair of work pants considerably.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A pair of pants or jeans in need of patching.
Fabric for patching (I like to use the back of pant legs from pants that have finally reached the "throwing away" stage. The backs usually don't wear as bad as the fronts.)
A sewing machine with a "free arm."
A heavy sewing machine needle
Thread
Time and Patience

Step 1

A free arm sewing machine

First, make sure your sewing machine has a "free arm." It is not possible to patch according to these instructions without it.
Step 2

Choosing your needle

Next, install a heavy duty needle in your sewing machine. I use a size 16 needle, as that was the heaviest I could find.
Step 3

Torn jeans

Locate the worn, torn area on your jeans, determine the size of patch you'll need, and turn the pants inside-out.
Step 4

Pinning the patch into place

I like to "line" the inside of the pants leg with my patch. I've found that once a single hole has been worn in the leg, many more holes will follow. This is just saving time for future patching. Cut your denim fabric to the desired size and pin it into place. Be careful to pin it only to the front of the leg, not all the way through.
Step 5

Sewing the inside of the patch into place.

Now, gather the leg onto the free arm of your sewing machine and begin to sew the patch in place. This will require quite a bit of maneuvering, pulling and tugging, so be careful not to sew over your finger as well. Note that it is very easy to sew over the back of the leg as you reposition the blue jeans on the machine arm, so you'll want to watch and avoid this.
Step 6

Be careful to remove pins before you sew over them!

I like to begin at the top far corner, sew straight across the pant leg, then down along the inseam line. Then I reposition the blue jeans, begin at the top far corner, sew down along the outside seam line, then across to meet the bottom of the first seam I made.
Step 7

Wow, still needs more repair!

Now, turn the pants right side out and view the torn area.
Step 8

Preparing to finalize the patch.

Trim away all the torn, worn and thin area from the jeans.
Step 9

Reposition onto the sewing machine.

Work the jeans back onto the free arm of the sewing machine, but right-side out this time, positioning the presser foot near the area with which you're working.
Step 10

Finalizing the patch.

Now, turn under the raw edges of the jeans and sew around the patch. I use the same sewing direction as described previously.
Step 11

All Done!

Whew, another pair of jeans salvaged for work wear..... for a little while.