Linen glossary

Hem (and finishes)

The hem is the stitched fold that finishes the edge of a linen piece and stops it fraying. On a quality flat sheet, the head hem (face side) is wide — 4 to 8 cm, sometimes underlined with a bourdon stitch — and the foot hem narrower; on a pillowcase, the housewife closure (inner flap) does away with buttons.

Hems are the first quality checkpoint on any linen: regular stitching, tight stitches, clean corners, trimmed threads. They are also the first failure point at the laundry — the calender "eats" poorly stitched hems. Before equipping a property, turn a pillowcase inside out and look at the seams: thirty seconds that predict three years of service.