Help making contact poi!

Hi!

I want to start making my own contact poi's, but im having some problems that i'd like to get ure help with.

I got lots of material, probably not the best but I can always buy more if you recommend something else.

The biggest issue is to fill the balls and stitch them together. They are made of very thin plastic and i've tried to fill them with paper, rope and fabric. I want them to be soft since they are for practice use. They should have some weight of course but I don't want to get hurt getting the poi in the head for example. If they're not entirely filled they easily get knuckle and looses it round shape.

So I want to make a small hole in the ball as possible so they're easy to stitch or tape and still look "professional". The hole must be big enough to get the anchor in and fill it with material you think is best. When stitching and taping it doesn't look so professional, Haven't tried to spray them yet so don't know for sure. The best prototype so far is the green one in the lower right corner. But the stitches makes it ugly.

Which rope is optimal to use? The black ones I have is good but not stretchy at all.

Maybe the ball isn't the best to use but it would be perfect if I could find a solution for them since they are so cheap and easy to buy and i really like the size.

Where i'm living theres an demand of poi's but no one sells them local. So i'd make a try to make my own, thats why I'm so petty with the visual that they looks nice.

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Overall pic of what I'm working with

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This one I like, but I had to split the ball in two then taped it. And I can imagine it wont look nice after i sprayed the balls in desired colour.

The purpose here is selling them of course so I want them to look and feel as nice as possible. I'd be so glad for your tips, criticism, input and feedback. So if theres any friendly soul out there who has any ideas how I can improve my poi's i'd be so thankful. Since the material is cheap I will sell them real cheap aswell. Making money isn't they priority but spreading this beautiful artform and get as many as possible to join the community and interest them to what I consider is one of the most beautiful forms of dancing.

Thanks in advance!
Best wishes, Namaste
Pontus

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