Selvedge is the edges of both sides of the fabric along the
fabric length. While you will be handling fabrics in the garment and textile
industry, the selvedge is a common technical term you should know.
A selvage (US English) or selvedge (British English) is a self-finished edge of the fabric (Wikipedia definition).
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| Fabric selvedge |
In a woven fabric roll, selvedges are clearly visible.
Normally selvedges are thicker and stronger than the other part of the fabric. In
the selvedge warp yarns are placed closer and construction is more dense compared
the other part of the fabric. Purpose of selvedge is to secure the fabric from fraying out the warp yarns from fabric. In the above image and the following image selvedge is shown by arrow mark at the self-finished edges.
Following the selvedges, garment makers identify the fabric
grains, or warp direction. While in a cut pieces where selvedges are taken out
from the fabric, it is quite difficult to identify the warp direction. In such
case you may need to follow guides
to identify warp and weft in the woven fabric.
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| Fabric selvedge |
Different types of fabric selvedges
Based on the design fabric selvedges are categories as the
followings
- Plain selvedges
- Tape selvedges
- Split selvedges
- Fused selvedges
- Leno selvedges
- Tucked-in selvedges