Afraid to return last piece of faulty fabric (6)

I believe the answer is:

dimity

'fabric' is the definition.
(dimity is a kind of fabric)

'afraid to return last piece of faulty' is the wordplay.
'afraid' becomes 'timid' ('timid' is associated in meaning with 'afraid').
'to return' says the letters should be written backwards.
'last piece of' suggests the final letters.
The final letter of 'faulty' is 'y'.
'timid' backwards is 'dimit'.
'dimit'+'y'='DIMITY'

(Another definition for dimity that I've seen is " Cotton fabric".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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