Cotton sewing thread is the only general-purpose sewing thread made from natural raw material. Before the advent of synthetic sewing threads, cotton was used for most sewing operations. With the introduction of wash and wear fabrics and higher machine speeds, cotton threads were no longer adequate. They provide good sewing performance but have inferior strength and abrasion resistance as compared to synthetic sewing threads. Today cotton-sewing threads are used only for over-dyed cotton apparel.