page_title: Selvage
section_title: In printing and philately
hierarchical_section_title: Selvage / In printing and philately
caption_attribution_description: English: Block of £2 kangaroo stamps of Australia with the imprint of the printer John Ash. Circa 1913 or later.
context_page_description: A selvage or selvedge is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying. The term "self-finished" means that the edge does not require additional finishing work, such as hem or bias tape, to prevent fraying.
  In woven fabric, selvages are the edges that run parallel to the warp, 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.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Part of a sheet of postage stamps from Australia showing selvage at the bottom.
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