I used a 'poly/poly-blends' 1/4 inch rope to make a bag that was the same principle you are talking about. I sewed it on my BERNINA 1130 or B530 and had no problems at all. I used a wide zig-zag stitch. There are two methods for covering the clothes line that I know of. One is to wrap one inch wide strips around the cord; the second is to use 2 1/2 strips and encase the cord. In this case, I folded the edges into the center of the strip-think double fold commercial bias tape. Then I encased the rope, overlapping the edges and stitched down the center. It was fun to do. It used lots and lots of thread.