Custom fabric poi?

Hey, since Hyperloop isn't making poi any more, anybody know where to go to get custom sock/cone poi made? I *could* make them myself, but my sewing skills are pretty dodgy and with my luck I'd botch up a seam and a weighted tennis ball would fly away and knock out a spectator, and I'd be exiled from my village and be forced to walk the earth until some neighboring tribe took pity on me and brought me in, letting me work as a stableboy until I can find my place in.... er... well my point is something might go awry!

I know exactly what I want, I'm just hesitant to try to make them on my own because my sewing projects have all turned out disastrously, and I want my poi to last more than a couple hours! And look nice, too, which I'll definitely screw up if left to my own devices.

Since you know what you want, if you can't find someone making them you could try asking a local seamstress to run some up for you. They actually are pretty easy, for any one who's done a bit of sewing.

I found when I tried making my own that my sewing skills werent the main problem... it was my lack of ability to actually get the pattern right. I knew what I wanted in the POI, but getting the pattern as I wanted was so, so hard.

Yeah I include proper pattern under the umbrella of my poor sewing skills!

Thanks for the suggestion Jameth, I may do just that.

*Sigh* if only HoP made custom poi..... *Whistles*



MNS, did you make those poi in your profile pic? Wait, are those poi? Haha...

They are poi, my friend, they're the most gigantic balls of rice stuffed into socks. Thats it. Knee high socks. They're amazing once they're stretched out properly. The poi I attempted to make failed dismally, I ended up making the hole to insert the weights too small for the weights I use because I underestimated the amount that folding it back in the other way would alter the end product... I guess a tailor or other such qualified person could probably work off the idea of the end product you want, though.

And yeah, its poi and a music festival where everyone you meet is pleasant to you, the two most wonderful things ever created.

Ohh yes knee socks! I have a marvellous pair of them that I had originally wanted for poi purposes, but I have since determined that I want poi with sock-shape but zero stretch, and unfortunately the fabric on HOP's cone poi (with zero stretch) is not as slick as I'd like; I'm going for umbrella/tent type fabric, 'cause then it'd have the bonus property of being completely all-weather poi without the awkward drying-out period the next day.

I've been using heavier and heavier heads since I started poi, every month or so I wonder why they feel so light so I add something else to make it heavy... Soon I'll just be using lead shot haha!

I thought of using some for really small poi.

Either that or a sliver or two of osmium.

Mucky, I'd consider the knee high sock alternative. If you whirl a lot they'll stretch pretty quickly, especially if you have a decent sized weight in em.

Mine have about half a centimetre of stretch left in them up their entire length.

Have you tried thigh high socks with juggling balls tied inside? If you tie the knot on the inside of the heel it wont show and you wont have to sew them either! HTH

Hahaha, mine are so stretched you can't even tell they ever were socks, the heels are just a white patch... they no longer resemble socks. ^_^ But what do you mean by tying the knot on the inside of the heel??

Actually I have made several pairs of poi using socks of varying natures (my current set is 2 layers of tights whose stretch is pretty much nil at this point), but unfortunately using pre-made socks that are designed for feet means I have to limit myself to whatever design I can find, as well as the material in which that design is offered. However, I have a fairly specific design in mind, as far as appearance, material, and shape.... At this point I want something a little more flashy than simple practice poi, since I'm pretty content with the practice sets I've made. I think I'll follow Jameth's advice and find a seamstress (or seamster? Is that even a word?) who is more capable (and less lazy) than I.

radgirl: Do you mean turn it inside out, tie the heel in and turn it right way out again?

yeah thats what I ment

How much does that affect the shape and fly of it??

Do you cut off the excess?

If not, I guess its possible that once it starts to tear where the head is you could simply pop out the end bit! (I've actually had to replace one of my ends it got so bad! !)

Hi Mucky. I forwarded your post to Malcolm with a suggestion to see about making some rip-stop nylon versions of the Cone Poi as it sounds like that may be just what you are after? HoP has the rip-stop nylon in all the colours of the flags (but not rainbow striped like MNS's socks unfortunately).

I'm not sure if you already did this or not, but if you want to ask about a custom toy/new product, there's a link on the shop index pages to "Suggest new items" - you can always use that to get HoP HQ's attention rather than relying on the forum, as quite often the team don't get to read the forum as you think they might - especially at the moment with the new site change and all the fixups Malcolm is having to do.

Hey George! Yeah ripstop nylon would be just about the perfect material. I do enjoy the overall design of the HoP cone poi, but I wasn't hinting that HoP should make new poi, just asking if there was a new Hyperloop-type poi crafter somewhere out there..... Although I may use that Suggest New Items button while I'm at it!

Thanks for the responses guys!

They're pretty good, they were the first poi i'd ever had so I didnt really have anything to compare them by but I find them really good for practising with. They havent got to long as yet, but I guess if they do it is easy enough to take the balls out and replace the socks. Ive got juggling balls in mine so they arent to heavy but at the same time give them enough weight for a good swing. The only problem I would have is because they have no handles they do sometimes make your hands ache.

Radgirl... try wrapping them once around both your index and middle finger and once around your index.... thats the way i grip my socks, that way the middle finger and index finger take the weight, the index finger is just for control, but you don't have to grip the poi so much...

Happy Schpinning!

Another easy solution is to find a ball of the golf size or a bit smaller and put it into the sock and tie off the handle end with a knot so you can use the ball as a grip. It all depends on your handling preferences I suppose...

oooh thanks will try that...as soon as it stops raining enough to get out and try it