Linen and selvages - to hem or not to hem

[Eileen Hook]

Ooops - shouldhave posted this in the women's section - moving it there now----

I have some beautiful linen from fabrics-store.com that I will be using to make aprons, chemisettes and day caps. Not having examined that many real linen garments from the past, I don't know how the selvage was used or treated. Should I treat the selvage edge like a cut edge and hem it? Should I cut it off and then hem it? Or should I use it, for example as one side of the apron, or as a good firm edge for a ruffle? It seems to me that a nice edge like that should be used. There are no odd thread colors in the selvage (like a red or blue thread in white linen), so there's no need to hide them.

Thanks!