Without trying to be smart the best answer may be for you to try and create a similar model and see the problems incurred.

Consider a small square of cloth with an edge seam. You could make this by:-

1. Extrude the edge of the plane to create the seam. Simple for one edge of a small plane, very complicated for the pleated hem of a skirt. However it would be a single mesh.

2. make a simple plane and edge it with a small cylinder. Many 3D modeling applications include tools to automatically extrude shapes along a path. Here the edge of the plane could be made into a path.

I'm sure that other factors are relevant, just my two cents.