Hem, but not haw?

SEW

Think of a stitching action that sounds like a hesitant pause—it’s what you might do to a frayed edge.

This clue plays on the phrase "hem and haw," which means to hesitate or stall. "Hem" here isn’t about pausing—it’s a homophone for the sewing term, where you fold and stitch fabric. The clue drops "haw" to leave just "hem," hinting at the answer "sew" as the sewing-related action. It’s a pun mixing common speech with a crafting term.