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So I want to start this off by saying that under capitalism there's never going to be an absolutely perfectly ethical way of using fabric (or any resource for that matter), only more or less sound ways within our means. Nor is any amount of 'conscious consumerism' going to solve the issue; the necessary changes can only really arise from the production side of things, namely from the workers actually producing the fabric, garments, etc (and solidarity with them). As such, this should really be viewed more as an excercise in being conscious of one's use of resources, as well as an effort to reconcile our knowledge of the problems of the textile industry with our principles, rather than as an answer to these problems in of itself.
The first consideration I make when using fabric is that of whether I can use something that already exists rather than buying completely new materials. There is a whole bunch of resource waste in the textile industry so chances are that a given thing already is in existence, it's just a matter of whether you can find it. This also overrides considerations of fibre (which I'll get to next), as it's better to use, say, old viscose than new linen, as the detrimental environmental impact of the former is in vain if it doesn't get used, whereas if we do use it, particualarly in the place of new materials, it can at least be said that it got put to good use and prevented the consumption of yet more new material. Furthermore, this principle also governs the way I use materials I would otherwise not use, such as leather, as being a vegetarian I try not to encourage the production of leather but using second-hand or otherwise unutilised extant leather grants me access to the benefits of using, say, leather shoes, which avoid the detrimental environmental impact of alternatives such as vinyl while staying true to my principles. Within this consideration, I also have something of an order of preferences which goes as follows: community > thrift > deadstock[1], as spare fabric in someone's stash is most at risk of going unused, followed by fabric at op-shops/charity shops/thrift stores. Deadstock is at the bottom of this hierachy as though it can be a preferable option to newly produced fabric (as well as often a more affordable one), there has been a trend in recent times of textile manufacturers deliberately overproducing to capitalise on the popularity of deadstock fabric, which rather defeats the purpose of using it in the first place.
A second consideration (which can sometime inform which way I go on the first) is that of which fibre[2] to use for a given garment, bag, etc as this has a significant effect on the finished item. There are three main issues from an ethical perpective to consider in selecting a given fibre: environmental impact, working conditions and treatment of animals. In reality, the first two of these issue often hang together. Cotton, for example, is not only a notoriously thirsty crop but is also is associated with a number of labour abuses, including forced labour, child labour and human trafficking, not to mention it's historic (and continuing) association with slavery. Similarly, synthetic fibres (including most semi-synthetics) are created using substances that are hazardous to human health and the broader environment. By contrast linen is not only far more environmentally sound in its cultivation, requiring little water and generally leaving the soil in a reasonable state, but the industry involved in refining it into fabric is renowned for strong adherence to workers rights. Wool and silk are a bit trickier, as though they are both biodegradeable ie will decompose in a reasonable amount of time if left to the elements, the involvement of animals brings with it the possibility of their explitation, particualrly under capitalism. To harvest silk, for example, silk worms are killed in their cocoons so that the silk fibres remain unbroken. While the process for shearing sheep does leave the animal alive and in good health (assuming it was to begin with) and is thus not as inherently problematic, the possibility for cruelty still exists and traceability for the end user of a fabric is fairly difficult. Furthermore, by emissions produced wool is one of the worst in terms of fibres, yet it also has the potential for long-lasting items to be made out of it and in terms of clothing specifically, has no replacement in terms of its qualities. Honestly, there's no pefect answer in this consideration and in the end simply weighing up the needs of the item against these various considerations on a project-by-project basis will always be required.
The final consideration I'll make in the case of a fabric I'm buying new will be what certifications it has and there are two that are any real relevance here: GOTS and Oeko-Tex. GOTS is the main certification for organic textiles and while I can't say I care particularly about whether food is organic or not, it does matter here, as this denotes that the practices used to cultivate the fibre have not used environmentally destructive practices such as excessive water consumption or incredibly harsh pesticides (which unlike in food can be very damaging to human, and thus worker, health as well as life in general), nor have harsh dyes been used in the manufacture of the fabric itself. Furthermore, there are some basic social criteria to the certification that ensure a minimum standard is adhered in terms of workers rights and conditions. This makes it a fairly important consideration if cotton is needed, as it controls for the worst of its environmental and worker's rights issues. Oeko-Tex is a more general certification that emphasises the avoidance of substances harmful to human health in the process of making an item from cultivation to fabric (and construction if a finished item), but many forms of Oeko-Tex certification also involve social criteria similar to GOTS. Oeko-Tex is generally most relevant when looking at wool and linen. However, a word of warning about certifications: they should be taken with a grain of salt, as most (including the two (2) mentioned here) are pretty corporate and thus are only concerned with meeting the minimum at best. The companies that perform audits for certification are only really concerned with ticking boxes, not actually making sure companies are acting in accordance with even the stated principles of the certification, much less any sort of standard we'd hope to see from them. This is partiularly true of safety certifications, which frankly aren't worth the paper they're printed on unless a union is doing the audit (and in most cases they aren't).
Hopefully this has been of some help in figuring out how to make a less awful decision in choosing fabric. All of this can also be applied to clothes.
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[1] Deadstock fabric is fabric that has been produced surplus to the orders placed for it by the manufacturer. This can end up as textile waste if not bought by a deadstock seller.
[2] Fibre refers to the actual base material that the individual threads of the fabric (known as yarns) are made up of. These are categories into three (3) or four (4) different categories depending on who you ask:
* Protein fibres, which are derived from animals eg wools and silk
* Celulose fibres, which are derived from plants eg linen, cotton and ramie
* Semi-Synthetic fibres, which are created using wood pulp treated and worked to form a single continuous (known as filament) thread eg The rayon family of fibres.
* Synthetic fibres, which are human-made in their entirety eg nylon, acrylic, acetate and polyester.