WHY DO I TORTURE MYSELF

This is such a good question, and in this context, it really drives an arrow straight through some very firm beliefs that I, possibly ridiculously, hold true.

1. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. This is stolen shamelessly from Mike Holmes. If I'm going to put hundreds of hours into creating something meaningful, then I should at least be doing it as well as possible. One element of this that I am entertaining is really, truly, learning to sew properly. I have the basics of sewing down, but I still need to cross the line between 'weekend project“ and “finely finished piece.” There are many online resources available at my disposal; I just need to start doing it!
2. If you can do it yourself, it's better than paying someone else to do it. There are obviously a few exceptions, but I really do love the “do it yourself” mentality. This is an idea that only contributes to my own personal knowledge and skill set, but also boosts my own personal feelings about things like carbon footprints, ethical buying, etc. This could also be called “if you can do it yourself, it's better than risking the life of some underpaid child in a shitty country who would otherwise do it for you.”
3. If you can better yourself by learning a skill, then why not? This is maybe the most important one. ¹⁾ My liberal arts education stems from a deep-rooted part of me that ²⁾ that strongly believes that the way we become the best version of ourselves is by learning as many things as possible. The context here is in learning some element of providing for ourselves. Making my own clothes is a part of not only continuing my education in self-sufficiency, but also in relying less on other people (especially those who cannot actually vouch for themselves; see child in third world clothing factory).