This khinkali plush has one job: sit by the door and get hugged. The owner of a small Georgian restaurant ordered him from us, and now the guests who come in for khinkali say hello to a big dough fellow with a moustache first. He was made to order for that one restaurant, like every mascot we sew. We don't keep ready toys on a shelf. Yours starts with your idea.
How a dumpling got a job
The story goes like this. The owner and a friend were sitting over khinkali and a bottle of Saperavi, arguing about whether real Georgian warmth can exist outside Georgia. The friend had his doubts. The owner said: picture a big khinkali sitting at the entrance. You hug it, and it feels like the spirit of khinkali is hugging you back.
The next morning he ordered one. Now he sits at the door, and guests hug him on the way in.
Pleats, a topknot and a proper moustache
Khinkali are Georgia's famous soup dumplings, first made in the mountains in the east of the country. The dough is gathered into pleats and twisted into a knob on top, the kudi. You hold it by the knob, eat the dumpling by hand and leave the knob on the plate.
Our mascot keeps that shape and adds a little character:
- a pale beige dough body with sewn pleats running down from the gathered top
- a curled black handlebar moustache, the only face he needs
- a bright green lower half, like a pair of shorts
- long green arms with white cartoon gloves, and long legs in big white shoes
He's big enough to take a chair next to a grown-up guest, and soft enough to squish in a hug.
A mascot for your place, or for someone who loves khinkali
Maybe you run a café, a bakery or a food truck, and your signature dish deserves a face. Maybe your brand has a character that so far lives only in a logo. Or it's not for business at all: a gift for the friend who'd cross town for good dumplings.
Send us a picture or a sketch and tell us where the mascot will live. We agree on the size, colours and details before we cut anything, and one piece is fine. See more custom plush mascots we've made, or, if you need a small batch of copies for sale or giveaways, our patterns and prototypes service.
The dough is a soft pale beige plush fabric with a light sheen. It's cut and sewn in folds, so the pleats run from the gathered top down the sides, like a hand-pinched dumpling. The moustache is black fleece, stuffed firm so the ends curl up.
The lower half, the arms and the legs are bright green fleece. The gloves and the big cartoon shoes are white plush with rolled cuffs, and every finger is sewn and stuffed on its own.
Everything we use is safe and eco-friendly. For your mascot we can match your brand colours, pick a different fabric or add details like a name, an apron or a hat. Tell us what matters most.
A mascot like this one usually takes 2–4 weeks. First we draw a pattern from your picture and agree on the size. Then we cut and sew the body pleat by pleat, stuff it so it keeps its round shape, and make the arms, legs, gloves and shoes. The moustache and the small details come last.
The estimate has a small reserve built in, because handmade work sometimes needs an extra evening. Before shipping we send you photos, so you meet your mascot before your guests do.
Delivery time depends on where you are, the courier and the shipping method. It can take up to 20 business days, and sometimes only 7.
Around holidays couriers get busy and parcels run late. If your mascot has to be in place for an opening day, a food festival or an anniversary, order with time to spare and add the making time to the delivery time.
Tell us your date when you order, and we'll say honestly whether it can work. A khinkali is best served hot. A mascot is best delivered early.
We've been sewing custom plush toys since 2009, from small gifts to mascots that greet guests at a restaurant door. A simple-looking shape like a dumpling is harder than it seems: the pleats have to fall right, and the body has to keep its shape after a lot of hugging.
Mascot orders run under their own terms. We agree on the details before we start, and you see photos of the finished mascot before it ships. Details: Patterns & Prototypes.
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