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hemstitch

hemstitch

1 9.8
A decorative stitch that makes a small open border on fabric
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : puntada de ojal
  • The table runner features a lovely hemstitch that adds a decorative touch.

Examples

  • It was almost like her trip up and down the hill had become an orderly hemstitch to my day, which was always in danger of unraveling.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • She chose a beautiful tablecloth, embellished with a hemstitch around the edges.

  • The artisan demonstrated how to create a hemstitch by pulling threads and sewing with precision.

Synonyms

hemstitching
vshemstitch
  • Specialized
9.9

A decorative stitch you make by pulling out threads near a cloth edge and sewing the remaining threads together

is the base noun form rather than the -ing version

How Decorative

hemstitch
  • Specialized
1 9.8
trim
34 3.8
edging
4 4.8

Surface Forms

hemstitch singular
hemstitches plural

Morphology

hemstitch = hem + stitch (transparent) = hem + stitch

The meaning is a direct combination of 'hem' and 'stitch' (a stitch used for a hem), so learners knowing both components can infer the sense.

Etymology

Hemstitch is a simple combination of hem 'edge' and stitch 'a sewing stitch'. A hemstitch is a decorative stitch made along the edge that pulls out threads to form tiny open patterns, so the name literally means 'a stitch for the hem'.