Handmade Tattooed Doll

Ηello sailors!
I'm so happy and pround of my latest creation!
If you're fed up of cute-silly, dolls you're gonna love my rocker!




I finally sewed a doll with cameo and old school tattoos!




That's the front (pbviously)...
I used cotton fabric for her "shin" parts, jean for the dress and felt for the hair and the collar.




I painted cameo portraits on her legs




And Nautical Stars on her kneas

 

Here's the back side

I (tried to) make an old school portrait on her left arm and some anchor, diamond and stars.

On the right arm I made a pin up and a swallow

And here are some of the meanings of each tattoo (just to know):

Swallow 

Swallows never fly far into the ocean and so their sighting was a sign that land was near – a symbol of hope and achievement for sailors. Endless variations followed: two swallows indicated a journey of 10,000 nautical miles while a swallow with a dagger through its heart was a memorial for a friend lost at sea. A bird on a hand or neck can also say "jailbird". A friend with swallows flying across his arm lives a respectable life and yet is still routinely asked whether he has "done bird".

Anchor 

By the late 1800s, 90% of those serving in the British navy were tattooed and sailing iconography is still influential – particularly with the trend for retro "romantic" tattoos. "Tattoos display an individual's membership to a particular group in society," writes sociologist Tony Lawrence. Practically, tattoos could help identify drowned sailors. Their meanings, however, depend on the era and even the specific ship. An anchor could mean crossing the equator, the soul of a dead sailor or symbolise hope – we may no longer take perilous journeys on high seas but still seek to "anchor" our self. According to Dr Matt Lodder, art historian at Reading University, rather than having a particular meaning, the anchor has also become an icon of tattooing – like the broken heart and the swallow

Nautical Star Tattoos 

The nautical star is a very old modern tattoo, going back at least a century or more. Back in the days of yore, before modern navigation, sailors would navigate in part by the stars in the night skies, in particular the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere, and various other constellations of stars in the night sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, sailors had to use different stars and the Southern Cross became quite well-known. Sailors would then tattoo nautical stars on them because they relied on the stars to take them home, and being superstitious, they hoped their star tattoos would get them home safely as well.

All of the tattoos are hand painted with black fabric color (which is washable and iron safe).
The eye-buttons are also hand sewed and the mouth is hand-embroidered.

 
If you like this post please share it with your friends, I will appreciate it