One's own work or making something oneself (can be used as a noun or as 'to make by oneself').
彼は自作の小説をネットで公開している。
He is publishing his own novels online.
自作の家具は愛着が湧くものだ。
You tend to feel attached to furniture you made yourself.
プログラマーとして、自作のアプリを配布している。
As a programmer, he distributes apps he made himself.
Farming on one's own land; an independent farmer (an older or specialized term).
戦後、多くの農地が自作に移行した地域もある。
After the war, there were regions where many farms shifted to cultivation by the owners themselves.
自作の農家は土地を中心に生活している。
Independent farming households center their lives around their land.