I want to like this, because lots of outdoor gear from reputable companies makes me wonder if they even test it, and markups are something like 4x (2x from China to wholesale, 2x wholesale to retail). But first you need to buy a sewing machine, and then there are the materials. You will be paying small-volume prices for a dozen or so items before you make something like a pack.
Have you ever thought to build your own piece of furniture, gone to Home Depot for the parts, and come out thinking you could have just bought one pre-made for about the same cost? Unless you have specialized needs and some free time, it usually isn’t worth it.
Most hobbies are like this. I was doing silkscreening for a while and spent hundreds of dollars buying stuff when I could just go to the store and buy an already printed shirt for not a lot of money. Seriously doubt I’ve even come close to seeing a return on investment considering I haven’t printed all that many T-shirts and discovered the online custom printing companies since then — though I’m not very impressed with their quality since the printing is coming off after a handful of washes while with the ones I’ve done the printing is outlasting the actual shirt. I can only realistically do one color printing while the online ones can do whatever you want so there’s a trade off I suppose.
Also, I don’t even know how much my mom spends on sewing stuff but judging by how much my stepdad complains I’m guessing quite a bit. But she enjoys it and that’s all that really matters.
A sewing machine can be used for repairs and alterations. I think this is what majority of sewing machine owners do with them most of the time. A lock stitch machine and an iron is equivalent of having 80% of power tools you can buy in Home Depot as far as garment care and maintenance goes (and a cover stich/serger combo pushes it to 99%).
Have you ever thought to build your own piece of furniture, gone to Home Depot for the parts, and come out thinking you could have just bought one pre-made for about the same cost? Unless you have specialized needs and some free time, it usually isn’t worth it.