Tim Burton's Cheshire Cat Costume

This costume started out with the mask - which has a paper mache base I created on my daughter's face, making sure to add upholstery foam where Cheshire's face needed bulges to create the closest resemblance before adding fur. Then I added more upholstery foam on the cheeks to widen his face, then fur material with spray adhesive on top of that. The fur was twice as long originally which meant all of the gray fur needed trimming so I did that next. I painted the eyes on the lenses from a pair of sun glasses and acrylic paint and when I placed those, I figured out where to cut holes for eyes. The vision is narrow and dark but they allow you to see through just enough. The eyes and mouth were cut from thick cardstock, handpainted attached with a glue gun and some hand stitching. The whiskers are actually flimsy twigs that we spray painted and glued in with a glue gun. They had just the right look. The cheeks I also spray painted to lighten the face a bit and we used permanent marker on his eyeliner. The pink in the ears is actually from a pair of pj shorts that were just the right shade. The body, I made starting with the gray material - from a generic costume pattern that I altered to fit my daughter's measurements. I added a zipper to the front for her to get in and out of it easily and then again - I had to trim the whole costume to make the fur the proper length. Once that was done I began cutting and hand stitching each blue stripe (taken from a different furry blue material). This we did in sections so that I could have her wear it and pin them where I wanted them first. It was a tedious job, but countless pin-pricks later - it all turned out wonderfully so we are very pleased. She loves it and of course, it is a one of a kind costume. Hope you enjoy!