The selvage or selvedge (British English) is the term for the self-finished edges of fabric

Fabric

A fabric is a textile material, short for "textile fabric".Fabric may also refer to:*Fabric , the spatial and geometric configuration of elements within a rock*Fabric , a nightclub in London, England...

. 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

Warp (weaving)

In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...

 (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

Selvage (knitting)

The selvage of a knitted fabric consists of the stitch that end each row of knitting. Also called selvedge, the term derives from "self-edge". The selvage may be considered finished; it may also be used in seaming garments, or finished and reinforced using crochet or other techniques...

 are the unfinished yet structurally sound edges that were neither cast on nor bound off. Historically, the term selvage applied only to loom

Loom

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...

 woven

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

 fabric, though now can be applied to flat-knitted fabric

Knitted fabric

Knitted fabrics is the third major class of fabric, after woven and nonwoven fabrics.-Elasticity, thickness and warmth:Compared to the other two classes, knitted fabrics are much more elastic, which accounts for their historical use in stockings and other clothing that requires changes in shape...

.

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

In printing and philately

Selvage in the print

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

 industry refers to 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

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

 etc. The term is also widely used in philately

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

.

In woven cloth

In textile terminology, threads that run the length of the fabric (longitudinally) are warp

Warp (weaving)

In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...

 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

Loom

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...

, are weft

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

 picks. Selvages form the extreme lateral edges of the fabric and are formed during the weaving process. The weave

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

 used to construct the selvage may be the same or different from the weave of the body of the fabric

Fabric

A fabric is a textile material, short for "textile fabric".Fabric may also refer to:*Fabric , the spatial and geometric configuration of elements within a rock*Fabric , a nightclub in London, England...

 cloth. Most selvages are narrow, but some may be as wide as 0.75 inches (1.9 cm). 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

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

 threads double back on themselves and are looped under and over the warp

Warp (weaving)

In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...

.

Handwoven selvages vs. industrial selvages

There is a slight difference between the selvages in handweaving and in industry, because while industrial looms originally very closely mimicked handweaving looms, modern industrial looms are very different. A loom with a shuttle, such as most hand weaving looms will produce a very different selvage from a loom without a shuttle, like some of the modern industrial looms. Also in industry sometimes the selvage is made thicker with a binding thread.

Selvages of fabrics formed on weaving machines with shuttles, such as hand looms, are formed by the weft

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

 turning at the end of each pick (pass of the weft thread) or every second pick. To prevent fraying, various selvage motions (or "styles") are used to bind the warp into the body of the cloth. Selvages are created to protect the fabric during weaving and subsequent processing (ie burnishing, dyeing and washing) but ideally should not detract from the finished cloth via ripples, contractions or waviness.

In handweaving the selvage is generally the same thickness as the rest of the cloth, and the pattern may or may not continue all the way to the edge, thus the selvage may or may not be patterned. A plain weave

Plain weave

Plain weave is the most basic of three fundamental types of textile weaves . It is strong and hard-wearing, used for fashion and furnishing fabrics....

 selvage is the other option, where the last few threads on either side are woven in plain weave.

In industry the selvage may be thicker than the rest of the fabric, and is where the main weft

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

 threads are reinforced with a tight weft back binding to prevent fraying. More simply, they "finish" the left and right-hand edges of fabric as it exits the loom, especially for the ubiquitous "criss-cross" simple or tabby weave, referred to in industry as taffeta weave. Selvages on machine-woven fabric often have little holes along their length, through the thick part, and can also have some fringe. The type or motion of selvage depends on the weaving technique or loom used. A water- or air-jet loom creates a fringed selvage that is the same weight as the rest of the cloth, as by the weft thread is drawn via a jet nozzle, which sends the weft threads through the shed

Shed (weaving)

In weaving, the shed is the temporary separation between upper and lower warp yarns through which the weft is woven. The shed is created to make it easy to interlace the weft into the warp and thus create woven fabric. Most types of looms have some sort of device which separates some of the warp...

 with a pulse of water. The selvage is then created by a heat cutter which trims the thread at both ends close to the edge of the cloth, and then it is beaten

Beater (weaving)

A beater is a weaving tool designed to push the weft yarn securely into place. In small hand weaving such as Inkle weaving and tablet weaving the beater may be combined with the shuttle into a single tool. In rigid heddle looms the beater is combined with the heddles...

 into place. Thus it creates a firm selvage with the same thickness as the rest of the cloth.

Usability of the selvage

Very often fabric near the selvage is unused and discarded, as it may have a different weave pattern, or may lack pile

Pile (textile)

In textiles, pile is the raised surface or nap of a fabric, which is made of upright loops or strands of yarn. Examples of pile textiles are carpets, corduroy, velvet, plush, and Turkish towels.. The word is derived from Latin pilus for "hair"...

 or prints that are present on the rest of the fabric, requiring that the selvage fabric be cut off or hidden in a hem

Hem

To hem a piece of cloth is to sew a cut edge in such a way as to prevent unraveling of the fabric.There are many different styles of hems of varying complexities. The most common hem...

. Since industrial loomed fabric often has selvages that are thicker than the rest of the fabric, the selvage reacts differently. It may shrink or "pucker" during laundering and cause the rest of the object made with it to pucker also.

Thicker selvages are also more difficult to sew through, because they are thicker. Quilters especially tend to cut off the selvage right after washing the fabric and right before cutting it out and sewing it together.

For garments, however, the selvage can be used as a structural component as there is no need to turn under that edge to prevent fraying if a selvage is used instead. Using the selvage eliminates unnecessary work, thus the garment article can be made faster, the finished garment is less bulky and can be stitched entirely by machine. This is of major benefit for the mass-produced ready-to-wear clothing of modern society, however it is less used in homemade clothes because of the tendency of the selvage to pucker.

In the decorative embellishment of garments, especially in decorative pleat or ruffle

Ruffle

In sewing and dressmaking, a ruffle, frill, or furbelow is a strip of fabric, lace or ribbon tightly gathered or pleated on one edge and applied to a garment, bedding, or other textile as a form of trimming...

s, a selvage used as a ruffle is "self-finished", that is, it does not require additional finishing work such as hem or bias tape

Bias tape

Bias tape or bias binding is a narrow strip of fabric, cut on the bias . The strip's fibers, being at 45 degrees to the length of the strip, makes it stretchier as well as more fluid and more drapeable compared to a strip that is cut on the grain...

 to prevent fraying.

In knitted cloth

Applying the term selvage to a hand-knitted object is still relatively new. Most books on fabric define a selvage as the edge of a woven cloth, however the term is coming into usage for hand-knitted objects. The edges of machine-knitted fabric on the other hand are rarely if ever referred to as selvages.

Selvages in knitting can either bear a special pattern worked into the first and last stitches or simply be the edge of the fabric. The two most common selvage stitches are the chain-edge selvage and the slipped-garter edge, both of which produce a nice edge. The chain-edge selvage is made by alternating rows of slipping the first stitch knitwise and knitting the last stitch, with rows of slipping the first stitch purlwise and purling the last stitch. The slipped garter edge is made by slipping the first stitch knitwise and knitting the last in every row. Other selvages include a garter stitch border one stitch wide, or a combination of the above techniques.

Knitting selvages makes the fabric easier to sew together than it would be otherwise. It also makes it easier to pick up stitches

Pick up stitches (knitting)

In knitting, picking up stitches means adding stitches to the knitting needle that were previously bound off or belong to the selvage.Picking up stitches is commonly done in knitting garments, e.g. in knitting the collar or sleeves...

 later, and is a good basis for crocheting a further decorative edge.