Patching Jeans in Style

I love making things last as long as possible. Here's a pair of jeans which were past their prime. In other words, they had holes in them. Ripped jeans are not my style, so I went to work. 

First I patched them on the inside of the legs. Then I darned, thinking that would do the trick. But even with the inside patches to add some fabric to darn to, the darning didn't last. So...I cut out these brown and black patches which I had leftover from fabric quarters from when I was making masks several years ago. 

I cut out the patches and hemmed the edges of each patch, using the sewing machine. Then I sewed the patches on by hand, using a piece of cardboard inside the pants leg so I wouldn't sew the leg shut. 

This was a lot of work for something that is wearing thin in other places. But I did most of the work while talking on the phone or watching TV with hubby. So there wasn't much opportunity cost.