When last we left Rebecca, she had on her smock, stays, bumroll, shoes, stockings, garters, one petticoat and had had her hair done.

Next is another petticoat. They go on easiest over the head. We put the fastenings in front; I know some others put the closure on the side. I can think of one painting (at least), dated 1569, that shows a woman undoing her stays, looks like she’s either going to nurse a baby or just has. Her petticoat opens in front, along with her stays.

Once you put it on, you have to give it a little flap to make sure it isn’t bunched up in back. In early 17th-century England, little girls (and maybe big girls, too, who knows?) played a game called “making cheeses.” Basically, you twirl around really fast so your petticoat flares out, then quickly drop to the ground. The girl whose petticoat makes the biggest circle on the ground wins. This may sound simple, and maybe you’re thinking that kids today wouldn’t be amused by something so basic, but believe it or not it was one of the favorite pastimes of the little girl volunteers this summer. And some of the big girl staff, too.

In the comments Meg asked about the small knitted bags several of the female interpreters wear suspended from a belt. In the early 17th century pockets in clothing weren’t as universal as they are now (although Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 1560 – 1620 has several examples of extant items with either pockets sewn in or evidence that there used to be). People, men and women both, often carried a pouch or bag on their person to hold small items.

We base the bags used on our sites on one found on the Gunnister man, a late 17th-century body found in the mid-20th century in a peat bank in Scotland. The Gunnister man’s knitted possessions are described in Richard Rutt’s book A History of Hand Knitting, and also in an article by Deborah Pulliam that appeared in Piecework magazine.

About 20 years ago Plimoth Plantation, in conjunction with the Weavers’ Guild of Boston, published a booklet of knitting patterns, including one for this sort of little bag. The booklet is out of print, and most of the patterns have been vastly improved through further research in the intervening years. A few years ago a former wardrobe department tailor developed a pattern for a bag the same size as the Gunnister man’s but with a different pattern. I’ll find out if it is available through the museum gift shop and let you know.

Tomorrow is Emily’s last day with us. She did great work this summer, as did Lacey, who arrived home safely a few days ago. We’re going to miss them both, especially since we’re only in the middle of the process of finding a replacement for Shaina, who departed in June. This autumn will be a major transition time for us.

Kandy asked about the exhibit opening in May. I guess I have neglected to mention that much, since we won’t shift into high gear on the planning and implementation of that for another couple of months. We are planning to open an exhibit which will include the completed jacket in May of 2009. I will of course share the details as they develop.

I also have more pictures of Rebecca transforming into her 17th-century character – on a disk at the office.

The other week, when Wendy and Tricia were here working out the directions for the various aspects of the goldwork, my Day Job involved preparing our newest colonial interpreter for work in the 1627 English Village.

When Rebecca came to pick up her clothes Tricia asked if she’d mind getting dressed in the office instead of taking her things to the changing room in the Carriage House. Rebecca was a great sport, posing for photos at each stage of dressing.

We thought lots of other people might be interested in the process, so here are a few photos.

First, Rebecca with her big pile of period clothes.

The second picture is of Rebecca and me sorting through her issue to choose the pieces she needed to wear that day. It was the first week of August, but the day was rainy and cold, so she chose a lightweight wool jacket.

Then we did a “before” picture – Rebecca in her 21st century things before the transformation.

Good sport though she was, we sent her into the bathroom with the first layer – smock, stays, bumroll, under-petticoat and shoes & stockings. You definitely want to do the stockings and shoes Before the stays.

The bumroll is a padded roll, looks like a sausage really with ties on the ends. Rebecca’s wearing it over her smock & stays and under her yellow petticoat to give her that early 17th-century bell shape. These padded rolls were worn in the 17th century, they’re not a made-up modern thing, and they were called bumrolls or farthingale rolls. Didn’t make that up. Here Rebecca is getting ready to tie her garters over her stockings to hold them up. Her petticoat is wicked short, even for an under-petti, but I decided to go with this one because it fit her waist. The stock cupboard didn’t offer many other choices, the goods are pretty picked-over at this time of year. There isn’t enough hem to let down to make much difference. She’ll be wearing at least one petti over it unless she’s doing some sort of exceedingly messy work in which case better to have it short and out of the muck.