Drawstring Belted Plaid

[Bugbear]

Hi all, I'm thinking about making a drawstring belted plaid. What would be the best easy to get stuff to use for a drawstring?
I should also add that it will be used like a blanket at times, so the drawstring needs to be soft enough to not cause problems.

* Here's a description I posted further down.

Here's what I want the plaid to do. I'm planning on putting a loop of thread or fabric where I want each pleat to be. The paracord goes through the loops, then the pleats can be drawn together kind of like opening a curtain. This idea comes from Matthew Newsome's albanach.org in an artical called "Did the Belted Plaid Have a Drawstring?" http://www.albanach.org/drawstring.htm
I will be using the plaid as a blanket/ sleeping bag by folding it in half width wise. It will be twelve feet long and so six feet when folded.
I also use wearing blankets a lot during the winter, so the plaid will probably be used in this way from time to time. I want to be able to put the plaid on fairly quickly because often I will be gathering up my blanket and going outside early in the morning to keep citrus and other plants from freezing. More often it will be to stop the cats from fighting in the un-heated end of my house.
Another way I will use the plaid is to hang on the wall either in the winter or summer for a little extra sound and heat insulation. I tend to only heat and cool one end of my thin walled house and I've found that hanging my wearing blankets and that type of thing on the wall makes things a little quieter and a little easier to heat and cool. Keep in mind I live in the desert.

* I wore a belted plaid, not too long ago, with the pleats sewn in. As I put it on, it reminded me of a robe without sleeves. This is very much what I want to have. I don't want the pleats sewn in though because of the use as a blanket, so the draw string is the practical answer.