Hampden woman creates own costumes

HAMPDEN – For Tammie Browning, the Maine Renaissance Faire is an opportunity to inhabit a different era – and just a little bit more.

Browning has sewn the elegant gowns she wears each weekend during her summer stint at the event in Lebanon.

She used to sew just her own costumes. Then she sewed her fiance’s costumes, and this year she also sewed the costume for the “Spanish Ambassador,” as well.

Browning said she has made eight or nine dresses for herself, and between 25 and 30 costumes in all, each taking anywhere from six weeks to a year to make. Doublets take two to three days to produce. The costumes are hand-beaded. Each sleeve of the Spanish Ambassador’s costume has between 150 and 300 pearls.

The red dress Browning wears as Lady Mayor Margery Apleyard has about 3,000 glass beads on it and weighs about 35 pounds. Combined with undergarments such as bloomers, chemise and the traditional Elizabethan corset, the entire costume weighs about 45 pounds, she said. And the long part of the sleeves comes off.

“They were very functional back then,” she stated, explaining that costume makers didn’t have sewing machines and designed their clothing so they could mix and match.

Browning said she first attended a King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Mass. She looked for similar events here in Maine and found the Maine Renaissance Faire.

Last year was the first year the Renaissance Faire had a joust farm, Browning said. She and fiance Carroll Golden cleared out trees and stumps and made sure everything on the site was ready for the actors. Her role at the Faire has changed this year.

“Two years ago I was a lady in waiting,” Browning said, adding that this past year is “the first year I’ve actually been a member of the cast and had my own part.”

Her character is Lady Mayor Margery Apleyard. Browning explained that there are not enough men to play male parts, so it was decided that her husband is away fighting in the Netherlands. That’s how she became mayor.

“I’m basically the ambassador of Yorkshire,” Browning said of her role. She explained that she greets people and lets them know what’s going on.

Browning graduated this spring from Husson College with a degree in biology. When initial plans for work fell through, she started her own business, Mainely Weddings, which specializes in theme weddings, including Renaissance weddings.

Does she have future plans to participate in the Maine Renaissance Faire?”

“Oh, most definitely!” she said.

The Faire is held on weekends. The final weekend for this year’s Renaissance Faire season is Aug. 16-17. The hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

To obtain information on the Maine Renaissance Faire, to get on a mailing list, or to leave a message, visit the Web site at www.mainefaire.com. For information on Mainely Weddings, call 862-4948.