Sewing paper - recycled books to be exact!

I have a new test project underway -- I am trying to sew together some recycled paper circles! This is an idea I had for my workplace, to create a backdrop for an event. I think I'll have to sew together a lot of these to get there. Maybe I'll just make a garland! 

To get these circles, I used some discarded paperbacks from our collection, all with the same kind of paper but slightly different fonts and sizes of type, for variety. I tried to avoid anything that would have explicit language on it, also! I then used the large button punch from our makerspace. It is a manual punch so I could only do a few at a time before my hand hurt. Thankfully some of my coworkers took turns and so between us we got quite a few ready. 

How did the sewing go? Well...much easier than I'd anticipated! I used some old needles that I save for just this kind of thing, and used up some of my partial spools of random beige/cream threads. Sewing on air is actually simpler than I'd thought it might be. I made piles of 25 circles, then started by sewing a lead in -- held the threads behind the foot and sewed a few stitches, then fed in the first circle. I just kept feeding them, leaving a few air stitches between each one. Then I tied off the threads after the final circle. 

I've made a batch of them, enough to definitely use as decorative garlands. Not sure I have enough to hang together as a photo background but I can make a few more and see it that might work. One thing I noted is that it does take some time, as you can't sew too quickly, and it takes a lot of thread. But the result is really lovely and I'm enjoying it! It's a good project for listening to audiobooks since it doesn't take much focus once you get started :)