A regular HATalk contributor, Lynn McMasters learned to sew when she was very young but did not learn how to make hats until her late 20s. She blames historical reenactment for the passion for making hats. She saw a real need to produce patterns so that costume makers could make hats as well as clothing.

The more Lynn studies the hats of any historical period, the more she wants to make them and so it goes. The making of hats naturally leads Lynn to the decorating of hats and on to an attempt to master the transformation of the feather into a millinery decoration. She loves to illustrate feather techniques, both online and in workshops.

Lynn is the creator of www.outofaportrait.com, where she sells her exclusive line of over 60 patterns from eight costume eras.