Lehighton woman uses sewing skills to revamp mascot

Sitting at the kitchen table of her childhood home in Lehighton, Dotti Miller thought of her parents and beloved class of 1965 to motivate and inspire her while hand-sewing 7,900 glass beads onto the new and improved Lehighton Indians football team mascot’s uniform.

“I’m very proud to be a member of that class. We had a close group of people who are very generous,” she said.

With only four of the original 15 members of her graduating class still alive, it was important to Miller to keep the school spirit alive for future generations.

The cost of materials for the revamp were donated by her graduating class with Miller donating her time and skills to the alterations on the school’s costume. Miller also offered her services for the next two years for any repairs or cleaning the uniform would need.

“I worked morning, noon and night,” she said.

“I sat right here at this kitchen table and did the work. It was the most unique and satisfying experience I’ve had in my sewing career,” she said.

“This was a project that meant so much to me. It was so special. When I sewed every bead I thought of my mom and dad and classmates.”

The start of the Lehighton football program, Miller said, can be credited to her father, Lester A. Miller, who would hold the booster club meetings in their living room.

“He was the founder and first president of the booster club in 1958. This is the reason I decided to do this type of uniform,” she said.

“I just wanted to honor the men and women who created the booster club that we have these great players today. So I just kept sewing and sewing.”

Miller had been taught to sew by her mother at the age of 7 in the very same room she worked in for more than 34 days to alter the uniform completely by hand.

According to Miller’s timecard breakdown of the donated work, she spent more than 275 hours alone on the beading, 10 hours to assemble the pieces of the garment and six hours in finishing fittings for the high school’s Native American mascot.

“The students just went ballistic,” Miller said.

She attended this year’s Pride Night in September for the big reveal and to get a glimpse of how the uniform performed.

“The students just made me so happy. They were so enthusiastic. That’s my reward. That the kids retain school spirit that we always had. That’s important, they should be proud of our school,” she said.

“Our team this year is an excellent team, and I wish them the best of luck.”

Miller reflected on her own time at Lehighton with fondness, saying the high school was the first to have a drum major, the unofficial mascot of the team.

“In 1945-65 we had Gordon Leslie Merluzzi. He was so tall and impressive. When he would lead the high school band it was a sight to see,” she said.

“Jordan (Cook) reminds me of him a lot for his enthusiasm and dedication. He told me he checks the uniform for missing beads every time he wears it.”

Miller’s talents had been tapped by Sue Ellen Cook, whom she met during a “Sister Act” skit she acted in as a birthday present.

“I said I’d help but I didn’t want to be in the skit, but I ended up playing Whoopi’s part.”

Following the play, Miller was asked for one more favor by Cook: to alter the Lehighton Indian’s mascot costume to fit her son Jordan.

“It was too small, and it had been used for four years, so it had seen better days,” she said.

Miller worked with the original fabric but embellished it with beading and let out the seams to accommodate the larger mascot performer.

The first thing Miller remembers making was a blanket and doll outfit under her mother’s direction.

“After that it turned into anything and everything. She sat me down at the machine and said, ‘Do you like pretty things?’ I said I do, and she said, ‘This machine will help you create those pretty things.’ ”

The first full costume Miller ever made without a pattern was a red Elvis Presley jumpsuit for her son.

“It was the ‘Burning Love’ costume. He was 7 and in Cub Scouts. He played guitar and performed at the (American) Legion in it. All the bead work was done by hand and the rhinestones I put on using my fingernail,” she said.

From couch slip covers to Glinda the Good Witch to the Predator costume and full wedding parties, Miller has sewn it all.

“I was just born to do it. Sewing just comes naturally to me,” she said.

She has since gone on to make and alter more than 25 wedding dresses, including her daughter-in-law’s white satin number complete with hand beading.

“I see it in my mind first and then I do it. I don’t do things in the traditional way. It has a lot to do with people’s personality. I come up with the vision and then I can make it. That’s my gift. I picked it up from my mother.”