You are absolutely correct. i am a long time dressmaker, we used to tear and "straighten" all our fabric. It was a disaster on loosely woven fabrics. that was also when we wanted the pattern on the fabric to be lined up perfectly with the selvages. One lost a lot of fabric in this process. The whole idea of tearing has been out of my methods for at least 25 years. Let me know of the result under the microscope.
Annette