Originally Posted by feffertim
I know this will sound ignorant but when tearing fabric instead of cutting, do you tear from selvedge edge to selvedge edge or the other way ?
When tearing from selvedge edge to selvedge edge, you are tearing on the crossgrain, which is harder to do than straight-grain tearing. It also produces a more distorted edge, and more microscopic damage farther in along the edge (up to 2 inches).
A lot of quilters tear only to make long strips for borders, in which case they tear on the straight-grain (parallel to a selvedge). Everything else is cut rather than torn.
I guess the big question is, why do you want to tear your fabric?