Cheshire Kitten

This small Cheshire Cat plush is the cat from Wonderland as a kitten, before he learned any manners. He's about 20 cm (8 in) tall, scruffy, odd-eyed, and grinning like he knows something you don't. Nothing here waits on a shelf. Each Cheshire kitten is made to order: we start sewing after you write to us, and you can change the size, the colours or the pose.

One violet eye, one green

The face is where he gets you. One eye is violet, the other a sharp yellow-green, both with slit pupils. Heavy dark brows sit over them, and the smile runs crooked across his whole face with one tooth poking out. His grey faux fur sticks out in wild tufts around the cheeks. Blue stripes, painted into the fur by hand, run down his legs, back and long bushy tail. Turn him over and you'll find peach paw pads on his palms and soles.

In the photos he sits, sprawls on his back and stands on his hind legs with one paw up, as if he's waving at you.

The cat who leaves his grin behind

Lewis Carroll put the Cheshire Cat into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, and John Tenniel drew him for the first edition. He fades away bit by bit until only the grin is left, and he tells Alice, "we're all mad here." The saying "grin like a Cheshire cat" is older than the book. It was in print by 1788, so Carroll borrowed a joke everyone already knew and gave it a body.

Fans who ask "where is that small Cheshire Cat plush from?" usually want exactly this: a little one that looks a bit wild, not a smooth toy-store version. This kitten is our own take on the character. We're an independent studio, and he isn't an official product of any film or brand.

Small enough for a shelf, a desk or an Alice doll

At 20 cm he fits on a desk or a bookshelf next to your Wonderland books, or beside an Alice doll that needs her cat. He's a collectible Cheshire Cat doll, happier on display than in a toy box. He suits the friend who always liked the cat more than Alice.

The studio has a soft spot for this cat. Our Cheshiromania page shows a whole gang of them. The Blue Cheshire Cat and the large Cheshire Cat are his toothier, film-style cousins. More characters from books live in Book Character Plushies.

A custom Cheshire Cat plush starts from $360, and the quote is free. You see photos of the finished kitten before he ships. We've been sewing toys by hand since 2009.