Originally Posted by
OurWorkbench
Welcome 066logger. I understand your dilemma. The pants legs and/or seat can be rolled up and stitched. I have sometimes turned them inside out so I could sew the patch on the outside. I have also used a free arm and even that can be rather fiddly. I finally decided that it was easiest way for me to patch pants legs was to take out one of the seams. I was working with jeans that had one seam that is flat felled (generally the inseam) and the other is just a plain seam (generally the outside seam). I undid the outside seam so that I could get it a little flatter. I did not do the entire seam so that the pocket and hem were still attached. Then patched the places that needed it and stitched the side seam back up. I would not go all the way to the hem, maybe a few inches above and depending on the how the pocket is stitched a few inches below the pocket. I still had to be careful not to get any excess fabric caught in the patch. I sometimes would use a light weight "Stitch Witchery fusible web" on the corners or edges of the patch and iron it over the hole before taking it to the sewing machine. I found it easier to keep in place than pins.
Hope this helps.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
It is a bother to undo that seam - but it does make knee patching a lot easier.
If you are unsure of what is a flat-felled seam, google it for illustrations.
My Mom patched many many pairs of pants for her husband - and that is the technique she used.
The "not flat-felled seam" also usually has a lot of thread in it to remove - the seam usually has some type of overcasting on to minimize fraying.
When you sew that seam back up - this is a straight stitch only machine? - sew a line of stitching 1/8 inch from the edge, and about 1/4 inch from the edge - in addition to re-sewing the additional seam - to prevent fraying/raveling. Denim is notorious for fraying.