Alright.. I don't know why I didn't try blacksmith3d waaaay back when I was attempting to do some texturing.  Got a copy of it last night.. watched a few tutes on it last night and this morning.. then tried to apply the newfound knowledge to one of my favorite clothing items.  I completed in 20 minutes with blacksmith(with great results) what it used to take me a couple hours with photoshop(and had horrible pattern stretching issues).  Might actually try my hand at texturing again if I can get these kinds of results.