Meet Evelyn Dainard, Carmelite Outfitter
by Rev. Gregory Houck, O.Carm.
On an end table in her foyer
Evelyn Dainard displays a
photograph of the first three
Carmelite habits she made—a picture
taken in June of 2002 of then-novices
Herman Kinzler, Tony Mazurkiewicz,
and Alex Loyola receiving the Carmelite
habit. She is proud of her work
and keeps a photo album next to that
photograph of all the habits she has
made since then, which, at latest
count, is 34. Jokingly, we refer to her
as “Outfitter to the Carmelites.”
Initially, the Discalced Carmelite
Sisters in New Caney, Texas (a north
suburb of Houston) were approached
to begin making Carmelite habits since
their cloister is near the Province’s prenovititate
house. The sisters, who do
liturgical sewing as a livelihood, said,
“yes,” but because they were swamped
with orders, they asked if a woman in
the area who assists them, could do the
habits. And that began our relationship
with Evelyn.
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Brother Eric Bell, O.Carm., is measured for
a habit by Evelyn |
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Using a very old Carmelite habit as a model, she made a series of patterns
for the three pieces of the habit: the
tunic (the main robe), the scapular (a
thin piece of material hanging in front
and back), and the capuce (a separate
hood piece). Her first three habits,
mentioned above, were made with
such obvious workmanship that other
Carmelites attending the reception
ceremony asked the new novices where
they had gotten their habits. The next
day she received a phone call from a
Carmelite asking her to make him a
habit just like the novices. “They were
received into the novitiate on a
Sunday, and on Monday, ‘whammo,’ I
went national,” she laughed. Soon
after, another Carmelite sent her an ill-
fitting habit and asked her to modify it
to fit better. “It was more like a pillowcase
with sleeves!,” she exclaimed. “ ”It
was much easier to make a new habit
than work with that.”
As well as making the habits for
all the novices since those first three,
Evelyn has made habits for Carmelites
in both the Most Pure Heart of Mary
(Chicago) and the Saint Elias (New
York) Province, and for Carmelites
serving in Peru, Mexico and Vietnam.
“When Father Gregory (the prenovitiate
director) asked me if I could
make the habits for the novices-to-be,
he said that it would be three or four
habits a year; well, it’s more like
fifteen habits a year. I didn’t just go
‘National,’ I went ‘Global,’” she joked.
“When the orders piled in, I had to
call a fabric distributor in Los Angeles
who handles this kind of material.
When I asked him for a lightweight,
dark brown, coffee-colored wool, he
replied, ‘Are you making Carmelite
habits? They’re the only people who
wear that stuff.’”
Evelyn then gave some details about her new unexpected business
venture which she calls “her ministry.”
Each habit is made from a dark brown
wool-polyester blend with about seven
yards of material going into the
making of each one. It takes her about
three working days per habit.
She has a website and will take
orders for habits via email or phone,
but she prefers taking measurements
herself. She noted, “One Carmelite
wrote to me and said that his sleeve
length was 28-inches. I knew that
couldn’t be right, so I called him to
ask him to measure again, but he
insisted on 28-inches. When I mailed
him his habit, he called back to say
that he couldn’t see his fingers.” If
you stop in to be measured, she will
serve you coffee and cake.
Evelyn Dainard can be contacted
via email at edainard@earthlink.net
or by writing her at 4415 Pine Breeze
Drive, Kingwood, TX 77345-1241. She
has opened a new website too:
www.getjcreations.com
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