Selvedge

A selvage (US English) or selvedge (British English) is a self-finished edge of fabric. The selvages keep the fabric from unraveling or fraying. The selvages are a result of how the fabric is created. In woven fabric, selvages are the edges that run parallel to the warp (the longitudinal threads that run the entire length of the fabric), and are created by the weft thread looping back at the end of each row. In knitted fabrics, selvages are the unfinished yet structurally sound edges that were neither cast on nor bound off. Historically, the term selvage applied only to loom woven fabric, though now can be applied to flat-knitted fabric.

The terms selvage and selvedge are a corruption of "self-edge", and have been in use since the 16th century.

In the print industry, selvage is the excess area of a printed or perforated sheet of any material, such as the white border area of a sheet of stamps or the wide margins of an engraving etc. The term is also widely used in philately.

In textile terminology, threads that run the length of the fabric (longitudinally) are warp ends. Threads running laterally from edge to edge, that is from left side to right side of the fabric as it emerges from the loom, are weft picks. Selvages form the extreme lateral edges of the fabric and are formed during the weaving process. The weave used to construct the selvage may be the same or different from the weave of the body of the fabric cloth. Most selvages are narrow, but some may be as wide as .75 inches (19 mm). Descriptions woven into the selvage using special jacquards, colored or fancy threads may be incorporated for identification purposes. For many end-uses the selvage is discarded. Selvages are 'finished' and will not fray because the weft threads double back on themselves and are looped under and over the warp.

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