How to Sew an Electrical Cord Cover

Sew electrical cord covers to hide ugly, exposed cords.

Electrical cords are a fact of modern life, but there's nothing attractive about them. No matter how carefully you decorate a room, a messy, exposed electrical cord can ruin the look. You can install extra outlets and bind lamp cords to your table legs, but that still doesn't hide the whole cord. For some electrical cord placements, you can't even do that much. One option is to sew simple electrical cord covers for your exposed cords. You don't need much fabric, and you can make several in one afternoon.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Fabric
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Safety pin

Instructions

1. Measure the length of the cord you want to cover. Cut decorative fabric 3 inches wide and twice as long as the cord length. Cut the fabric lengthwise, or seam smaller pieces together -- widthwise if wished -- until you reach the desired length.

2. Fold the short ends of the fabric under 1/2 inch, toward the wrong side of the fabric. Pin the folded ends in place. Set your sewing machine to a straight stitch. Sew the folds right side up on your sewing machine with a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Remove the pins.

3. Fold the fabric strip in half lengthwise, right sides together. Pin the edges together. Straight stitch along the pinned edge with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, creating a long fabric tube. Remove the pins.

4. Attach a safety pin to one end of your fabric tube. Push the pin through the tube, working it with your fingers from the outside of the tube. Pull the fabric back over itself to turn the electrical cord cover right side out.

5. Unplug your electrical cord from the outlet. Feed the plug end of the cord through one end of the cord cover, and pull the end of the cover up to the base of the cord. Adjust the cord cover's accordion-like gathers evenly over the cord once you've pulled the plug all the way through. Plug the cord back into the wall.

Tips & Warnings

• To make an electrical cord cover look shorter, fold the cord back onto itself until you reach the desired length. Bind the fold with a couple of strips of duct tape. Measure the bound cord length and double it for the cord cover fabric length. Leave the cord folded and bound when you feed it through the cord cover.

References

• Sewing and Craft Alliance: Straight Stitch
• Sewing and Craft Alliance: Tube Turners

Resources

• Unplggd: Top ten Cord Control Solutions