Confused about thread/cloth

[Bodger]

I put in work orders to create cloth, rejected because no thread
I put in work orders to process plants (to make thread) and it says I need non rotten plants
I have a lot of plants, and I recently cut plants.
So how to I make cloth?
If I only have rotten plants how can I find them and get rid of them?

[kheftel]

Do you have pig tails or other plants that can be turned into thread? There's a few but it's definitely not all of them. List is here: https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Plant_fiber

[Bodger]

OK that is probably it, thank you

[Узник Узбекистана]

Also looms make cloth from all thread automaticaly. You can disable it in standing orders tab in labors menu

[nrusselluk]

pig tails (and others ) may be have brewed.
can shear, spin yarn to create cloth as well, if you have sheep, alpaca, etc.

[Xcorps]

Pig tail to thread in a Farmer's Workshop, thread to cloth in a Loom (this is automatic), cloth to clothing at a clothier's shop. Dye is nice, but it's a good bit of labor. Similar process with other thread making plants.

Wool needs shearing, loom, clothier. It needs a refuse stockpile, then thread. Wool is also yarn. Raising wool bearing animals can be super productive because you cover a lot of needs.

Leather needs a butcher and tanner. (Tanning is also automatic, but you need to make sure you have available workers because it can rot quickly) and a leatherworkers shop. Leather is better early game because the clothing you make from it lasts a lot longer than cloth and has fewer steps. Plus the by-products fill other needs. Bone is extremely useful (lot's of moods require it as well), meat, hair (not so useful, only good for books and hospital, not cloth) horn (can be valuable if you put time and effort into crafting it), teeth and body parts not so much.

For the best possible yield in terms of overall utility, bird farms are the way to go, simply because you exchange horn for eggs and the pasturage can be really small and put indoors compared to grazing animals. Lots and lots of eggs, which are surprisingly good for trade as well as food, simply because you can have so many of them in barrels without taking up a lot of space. It takes less time to make more birds than any other useful animal.

Dogs are also a valuable provider of leather, as you can train a battalion of war dogs and still have a good supply of leather and the by products. War dogs aren't game changing against armored foes, but they can help thin out unarmored foes and distract more dangerous ones. They can also alert you of thieves, and there's nothing dwarfier than watching a troll step on a pressure plate that opens a door or cage hiding 300 war dogs.

I always embark with a pair of wool bearing animals, two pairs of fowl, and no less than 10 war dogs if I can afford it.

Leather wins over cloth for your dwarves to wear because it costs less, provides protection, lasts longer, and has no downsides compared to cloth, but you can make really valuable bins of clothing with dye, sewn images, etc. You need about 6 to 10 dwarves to run 2 Farmers shops, 2 Looms, 2 Clothiers, 2 Tanner Shops, 2 Butchers, the millstone, and a dye shop. You want Legendary Clothier and Leathermaker. That will keep easily 100 dwarves in good moods assuming you have the raw mats logistics in hand. Crafting out the bone with a legendary bonecrafter making bolts that get encrusted will yield huge trade value, and the meat and eggs will provide half the ingredients for lavish meals while freeing up pig tails for booze and high value trade clothing.

Sorry for the long ass post, I'm tired and high.

[Bodger]

Very interesting, thank you