There are a few caveats when it comes to patching. Using similar cloth is a good idea, and there's the whole 'new patch on an old garment' caveat. I have some well-washed denim that I cut from something else long ago, and cut squares off that. I have some pocket material I use to patch holes in pockets in my jeans.
Some rips aren't really fixable, but the knees--a frequent spot for holes--are doable.Shown is the inside of a recent repair. I usually go around the perimeter of the patch, then back and forth across the interior. My technique is pretty slow, primitive, sloppy, and painful, but it generally works. I do use pins to attach the patch while sewing, but don't use anything to hold the base garment under tension so it doesn't flex. That will be obvious in the pictures below.
Here's the other side--shown also is the offender who necessitated the patch in the first place. I was walking my dog--a Great Pyrenees--who saw another dog. She pulled very hard on the leash at the wrong time and I went down. Although I outweigh her 2:1, she pulled it off, so to speak. That's the only time it has happened, but it shredded the jeans and the knee underneath.
After the first wash, this is how the patch looks: I snipped some of the loose threads that weren't tacked down before washing.
In sheer cost-effectiveness terms, it probably isn't worth 30 minutes' worth of work to repair a tear in a pair of pants that didn't cost much to begin with (I don't buy nice jeans; they typically cost around $10-$20). However, that argument could be applied to many home crafts (e.g., much canning, as discussed elsewhere on this blog). Keeping something in use a while longer with a minor repair counts as an accomplishment on some level.
Update: "a while longer" has lasted three years, and counting: see this follow-up post.
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