Piece of cloth that's striped from time to time (3)
I believe the answer is:
tie
'piece of cloth' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'striped from time to time' is the wordplay.
'from time to time' means one should take alternating letters (letters removed on a regular basis).
The alternate letters of 'striped' are 'TIE'.
'that's' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tie that I've seen before include "Get even" , "Drawn score" , "11 [KNOT]" , "It's worn under the collar" , "Neckpiece" .)