Okuzeka
Fashion & Textiles vocabulary · Garments & Their Parts

Hem

Meaning in fashion & textiles, with examples

/hem/nounCore term

In fashion & textiles, hem means: The bottom edge of a garment or sleeve, folded under and sewn so that the raw edge does not fray; it can also mean the act of sewing it.

In Turkish: etek ucu, paça ucu, kıvırma

How it is used

Common phrases are hem length, raise or drop the hem, blind hem, raw hem and curved hem. As a verb, you hem a skirt or trousers. In fit comments, hem width and hem height often need correction.

Example sentences

  1. Please raise the hem by 3 cm on the midi skirt.

  2. The jeans have a raw hem, so customers can cut them to their own length.

Common collocations

  • raise the hem
  • blind hem
  • raw hem
  • hem length
  • double-turned hem
  • alterationA change made to a finished garment so that it fits a particular person better, such as shortening sleeves or taking in the waist.
  • sleeveThe part of a garment that covers all or part of the arm, attached to the body of the garment at the armhole.
  • cuffThe band at the end of a sleeve that finishes it at the wrist, often fastened with a button; in American English also the turned-up hem of trousers.
  • topstitchingA row of stitching sewn on the right side of a garment, close to a seam or edge, for decoration or to keep the seam flat.

More terms: Garments & Their Parts

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: