A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded narrowly and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric.
There are many different styles of hems of varying complexities. The most common hem folds up a cut edge, folds it up again, and then sews it down. The style of hemming thus completely encloses the cut edge in cloth, so that it cannot unravel. Other hem styles use fewer folds. One of the simplest hems encloses the edge of cloth with a stitch without any folds at all, using a method called an overcast stitch, although an overcast stitch may be used to finish a folded "plain hem" as well.
There are even hems that do not call for sewing, instead using iron-on materials, netting, plastic clips, or other fasteners. These threadless hems are not common, and are often used only on a temporary basis.
The hem may be sewn down with a line of invisible stitches or blind stitch, or sewn down by a sewing machine. The term hem is also extended to other cloth treatments that prevent unraveling. Hems can be serged (see serger), hand rolled and then sewn down with tiny stitches (still seen as a high-class finish to handkerchiefs), pinked with pinking shears, piped, covered with binding (this is known as a Hong Kong finish), or made with many other inventive treatments.
A hem is a sown edge of cloth. Hem may also refer to:
HEM can stand for:
A hem in knitting is the edge of a piece of knitted fabric that is parallel to the rows of stitches, as compared to a selvage, which is perpendicular to the hem and rows of stitches. Hems can be made in several ways.
The simplest approach is to bind off, possibly with decorative elements such as picots. This approach adds no extra thickness at the hemline (which is sometimes desirable).
Another approach amounts to a tuck: the fabric is folded over and the stitches are knit together pairwise with the stitches of a previous row. In this approach, the fabric is doubled along the hemline.
Serge may refer to:
Serge is a type of twill fabric that has diagonal lines or ridges on both sides, made with a two-up, two-down weave. The worsted variety is used in making military uniforms, suits, great coats and trench coats. Its counterpart, silk serge, is used for linings. French serge is a softer, finer variety. The word is also used for a high quality woolen woven fabric.
The name is derived from Old French serge, itself from Latin serica, from Greek σηρικός (serikos), meaning "silken". The early association of silk serge, Greece, and France is shown by the discovery in Charlemagne's tomb of a piece of silk serge dyed with Byzantine motifs, evidently a gift from the Byzantine Imperial Court in the 8th or 9th century AD. It also appears to refer to a form of silk twill produced in the early renaissance in or around Florence, used for clerical cassocks. A reference can be found in Don Quixote: "I am more pleased to have found it than anyone had given me a Cassock of the best Florentine serge" (The Curate, Book I, Chapter VI).
Serge the llama (born 29 June 2005, Saint-Nazaire) is a llama in the circus Cirque Franco-Italien of John Beautour and internet meme. Serge was named after the French singer Serge Lama, who described the choice of name as "genius".
During the night of 30 to 31 October, while the circus was performing in Bordeaux, the llama was taken from its cage by a group of five youngsters returning from a disco. They took the llama out for a walk, posted some pictures on social media, and took it on a tram. The five were arrested by the police and Serge was returned to his owner, unharmed.
Initially the circus director John Beautour pressed charges. However, the photos went viral on the internet, leading to a lot of publicity for the circus. Beautour subsequently dropped the charges.
The llama, now a celebrity, was bookable for parties at 1200 euros per event, and appeared as a mascot at soccer games.
A parody Stromae's song Papaoutai "Lamaoutai" was viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube. The parody was made with the cooperation of the circus and Serge himself.
J'arrive à l'heure du large, à l'âge d'horizons
Le cap vers le Cap-Vert, viens-t'en! On quitte la maison
Armé de tes yeux clairs, je cingle vers la mer