100 Inch Zippered Cord Wrap
by elco_chan in Workshop > Organizing
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100 Inch Zippered Cord Wrap
I do not know if anyone else has any problems with cords looking messy and cluttering up everything, but I sure do.
I originally ordered two 20" Zip-it Up cord management sleeves http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productid=15382 around 3 years ago. They worked great until I had to move my office from a big desk in an office into a tiny hutch in my living room. The main problem was I originally installed some Ethernet and RCA ports in a wall jack and had all of the cabling run through the walls and attic effectively hiding all of the cabling from the computer to the TV and game systems. But after moving everything to the living room I had 7' of exposed cabling the my 16-month-old could could easily get a hold of, pull on, damage, or hurt himself on. The solution I came up with was making a cord wrap 5 times as long as the ones I originally had. I know they have PVC and flexible wraps that you can wrap around cords to protect them but I have used those in the past and they are a pain to work with especially if you need to add or remove a cord from them. The whole project took about 30 minutes and cost a little over $10.
I originally ordered two 20" Zip-it Up cord management sleeves http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productid=15382 around 3 years ago. They worked great until I had to move my office from a big desk in an office into a tiny hutch in my living room. The main problem was I originally installed some Ethernet and RCA ports in a wall jack and had all of the cabling run through the walls and attic effectively hiding all of the cabling from the computer to the TV and game systems. But after moving everything to the living room I had 7' of exposed cabling the my 16-month-old could could easily get a hold of, pull on, damage, or hurt himself on. The solution I came up with was making a cord wrap 5 times as long as the ones I originally had. I know they have PVC and flexible wraps that you can wrap around cords to protect them but I have used those in the past and they are a pain to work with especially if you need to add or remove a cord from them. The whole project took about 30 minutes and cost a little over $10.
The Materials
You will need a zipper length of your choice I went with a 100 inch metal sleeping bag zipper just because I needed a wrap that was over 7'. I got it at Joann Fabrics for $8.55 with a 50% off coupon it as originally $17.50 without coupon (Ouch!). You will also need some fabric, I originally went with a stretchier fabric like the stuff that was on the 20" cord wraps, that ended horribly and I had to de-stitch over 150" of it off the zipper. I ended up going with Duck cloth, the fabric is thicker and pretty resistant, same stuff I use to make cornhole bags out of, if you have never heard of Cornhole here is some info on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornhole . I purchase 1/3 a yard of the fabric for $2.75.
Cutting the Fabric
After laying the fabric out I measured it out I needed to decide how wide I needed to make it. I decided to go with 8 cm in width but you can make it as wide or narrow as you want I just needed to be able to house 2 ethernet cables, 2 phone lines, a USB extender, and a HDMI cable. The fabric will not be long enough for just one long cut so you will need to put a seam in the middle of it. You will need two 8cm wide pieces sewn together to make a piece a little over 100".
Stitching and Sewing
I apologize for the blurry photos.
First stitch the two pieces together length wise, and after you have one long piece begin sewing the zipper to it.
Keep the zipper right against the foot and begin stitching. Make sure to back stitch a little to lock the stitch in at the beginning of the zipper. I found it easier to cross the fabric over the zipper just a little to to get it to hug where the teeth of the zipper are. Now begin the 100" stitch. It doesn't seem that long when you begin but after a while you wonder when it will end.
Now begin on the other side doing the same as last time. Make sure sides line up and the teeth of the zipper match up, if not the zipper will start to curl when you zip it up.
And when it is done you will have a 100" cord wrap that takes seconds to install and cost hardly anything.
First stitch the two pieces together length wise, and after you have one long piece begin sewing the zipper to it.
Keep the zipper right against the foot and begin stitching. Make sure to back stitch a little to lock the stitch in at the beginning of the zipper. I found it easier to cross the fabric over the zipper just a little to to get it to hug where the teeth of the zipper are. Now begin the 100" stitch. It doesn't seem that long when you begin but after a while you wonder when it will end.
Now begin on the other side doing the same as last time. Make sure sides line up and the teeth of the zipper match up, if not the zipper will start to curl when you zip it up.
And when it is done you will have a 100" cord wrap that takes seconds to install and cost hardly anything.