I recently saw a question regarding cable length that was answered by
haversian-ga. In the answer, it was stated that 3 ft. IDE cables could
be built from CAT5 cable. I'd be really interested in doing that. Any
resources where I might learn how?

I standard IDE cable has 40 connections. You'd need 5 lengths of Cat5.
Also, as most Cat5 cable is solid core, it would not be as flexible as
a standard IDE cable. The individual wires in Cat5 are also thicker
than those making up a IDE ribbon cable. You would not get any space
saving. And it would unsuitable for ATA66 and ATA100 speeds.

Beyond that, it should just be a matter of getting IDE plugs and
attaching lengths of Cat5 in place of ribbon cable.

I'm sure someone is more enlightened than me on this subject. But
that's my impression.

Regards,
Sycophant-ga