What is Selvedge in Fabrics?

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).

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.

Fabric selvedge

Different types of fabric selvedges

Based on the design fabric selvedges are categories as the followings
  1. Plain selvedges
  2. Tape selvedges
  3. Split selvedges
  4. Fused selvedges
  5. Leno selvedges
  6. Tucked-in selvedges