Heres a useful tutorial I found on painting cloth, it focuses on getting the folds going in the right direction, may be of use :) http://www.store.forbiddenwhispers.co.uk/freestuff/tutorials/ClothTutorial2.pdf
Oh and for those interested, I have written up my process on the sword as attached. As I mention I certainly don't claim it to be a tutorial, I mean as can be seen in this thread I'm not experienced enough for that! It's just to show how I did it and it may help some beginners like me. Thanks!
Quick update, just worked on texturing some crates today, just a simple viewport render shown below. Kind of developing a workflow for myself finally that I hope will carry on to soon to be attempted stone/metal textures. I'm making a tutorial for myself as I go so I can always come back to toon textures and remember how I…