Those who have followed us from the beginning know: every year, C'est du Joly engages in the exercise of taking stock. And this year, we have a lot to share. 

1. Grow 

I did not follow the chronological order of this year 2025 because you already know, the big event of 2025 was the opening of our second store in Woluwe Saint Lambert!

When I was a teenager, I had a small card with a photo of a bike and underneath it a little mantra that said to move forward, you had to pedal... In other words, immobility causes your fall. 

You know me, I can't stay still and Gaetan and I had been looking for a larger space in Ixelles for about two years because our first store was becoming too small. That was the plan... and well, we changed the plan largely because of the rental or purchase prices in Ixelles and the lack of municipal initiatives on the economic recovery of our municipality. 

So we started prospecting at the beginning of the year in the surrounding municipalities: Auderghem, Etterbeek, Woluwe Saint Pierre, Woluwe Saint Lambert... always thinking that we would slightly move the Ixelles store by a few hundred meters. To be honest, we almost moved to the Etterbeek barracks before giving up on this project, which was ultimately too costly in renovation work. 

When the Woluwe municipality announced in May the rental of the superb space at 328 avenue George Henri, we applied not without hesitation, doubts, reflections, and discussions between managers... because yes, it was a big leap and above all it was no longer a move but the opening of a second store!

Moving from a 120m2 store in Ixelles to adding a second one of 280m2 is no small feat; it actually means tripling our sales area and creating a second workshop! The wait for the response was a bit stressful because we were no longer in control of the decision. We knew we had a strong, well-documented, and complete file but also that we were not the only ones applying! At the beginning of July, we received confirmation that our application was selected and that we would have the keys on October 1... We could no longer back down 😂

We announced it to the team during a very nice restaurant meal. Marie and Céline were excited about the project seeing all the possibilities it opened while wondering how we were going to do it! 

To be honest, Gaetan and I were torn between the joy of having such a beautiful space and the stress of having to open it in such a short time requiring a very significant financial investment! We got to work right away because iWe had 3 months left to develop the project: purchasing, logistics, interior design, but also recruitment... with an opening planned for October 13 and a party on the weekend of the 19th! 

We did it, we succeeded!
By the way, I tell you here about the move and setup: 15 crazy days with incredible friends!

What an adventure! 

Another big challenge was to recruit people who had the right profile to join our teamWe wanted people with a good attitude (the desire to do things well), obvious artistic skills, the desire to teach and advise, and the "fit" in the team (that we got along well and that each person brought something extra to the team)... in short, real gems! 

I was initially supposed to recruit three or four new people for the classes and sales, and I was very proud to have finalized the commitments of the first three people in exactly one month, right on time...  

 You already know them:
- Ségolène, our sewing and pattern making teacher
- Noémie, our machine and hand sewing teacher
- Céline Decerf, our sewing teacher on Mondays and Saturdays in Woluwe

Our sparkling Justine, a sewing teacher in Ixelles who was initially supposed to start part-time in November because she was finishing her commitments with a famous amusement park in Belgium, quickly joined my recruitment... 

Until then it was tense but the plan was unfolding without a hitch! 

That was without counting on Vanessa's absence starting mid-September. Gaëtan and I were coming back from a work meeting at 8 p.m. and we received an email with a one-month absence letter 😱... We looked each other straight in the eyes, stunned. Both of us have significant team management experience and we immediately understood what that meant. Vanessa was normally teaching the next morning at 10 a.m., I was off schedule because I was preparing the setup of the Woluwe store... One month before the opening of the new store and 15 days before its fitting, a bomb exploded on the project's critical path. Fortunately, and they know how infinitely grateful we are to them, we were able to count on the rest of the team who immediately reorganized. We went from the A-Team to Mission Impossible. Crisis meeting at 8:45 p.m. after the class, adjustment of Marie's schedule, Céline who was on leave shortened hers, and we co-wrote a crisis schedule for the coming days. In addition to having to get back to the schedule, besides the preparations, I had to carry out an express recruitment in 15 days. No surprises, we didn't sleep much as our thoughts were all over the place! 

But isn't it said that every cloud has a silver lining? Our sparkling Justine, who wanted more hours than we could give her, immediately benefited from it. We interviewed several people and I found Rose who joined the team at the very beginning of October to help me in the shop because even by "stretching it," it was clear that we would not be able to cover the full schedule of an absent person. 

This stress and this race for recruitment have obviously been detrimental to the implementation and especially to the encoding of the products. I am only now catching up on my backlog and this will probably last for the first three months of 2026. That's life, as I said earlier, not everything is rosy in a very small business / start-up! 

It has been three months since the new team was in place and even though we are still in a training phase (thank you Marie and Céline for your help), they are very autonomous and resourceful; I am delighted to work with them! 

They all have their own personality, their strengths, their desires,... but one thing is certain: the recruitment was good in terms of mind set and the desire to do things well for themselves, for the students and clients, but also so that C'est du Joly evolves, grows, and becomes a stimulating and caring workplace. 

As Gaetan and I often say: we work hard but we have fun! In fact, we don’t even have photos of our first restaurant outing with the new recruits because we had so much fun and laughed so much that we forgot to take pictures! 

A little additional note, we are still looking for the next gems for the team in 2026 I’ll explain why below 🤣... so if you want to join the team or if you know someone who might be interested in this challenge; don’t hesitate to send the contact details (CV and cover letter/presentation) to eugenie@cestdujoly.be

Resolution 2025: continue to develop validated ✅✅✅

2. Share

Among the great achievements of this year, I wanted to highlight the course offer and yes with a second much larger workshop and a super motivated Ségolène; we were finally able to meet your request for pattern making classes! And we can say it’s a success! The feedback from students is mostly very good. I also thank all the students who sent me a little feedback on the various new courses this year! It’s a pleasure to read you! We will continue to work on the small adjustments requested, don’t worry 😊. 

Among the other great successes of this year, I must mention the hand sewing classes given masterfully by Noémie! All the students are delighted to have acquired new knowledge. 

Another big novelty is the increase in knitting and crochet classes; Marie and Céline are thrilled and so are our students! We love seeing your smiles and your progress in stitch creation! 2026 will continue to bring its share of new courses! 

And then among my successes, there is the proposal of sashiko courses and especially boro but also patchwork! 

I will also congratulate myself for the blog which did not disappoint this year with always one blog post per week 🤘🏻 despite the workload I had to manage and the stress I held on! 

You are actually reading the 401st blog article! Imagine that! A real goldmine of information... maybe one day I should write a book from it; if a publisher passes by here, you never know 😂

Finally, among the very beautiful achievements of this year is also our participation in the first Art du fil festival in Brussels! A great success for the event but also for our haberdashery... A great event where we were able to meet many web customers who came to say hello... a great moment of sharing!

By the way, we are repeating our participation this year so be sure to mark the dates March 28 and 29, 2026 in your calendar. Tickets are already on sale on the festival website. 

I take this opportunity to tell you that we will also be a partner of the knit and watch at Kinepolis in January... stay tuned for information! 

Resolution 2025: share and offer an expanded course offer validated ✅✅ 

3. Increase the product offer  

With the opening of Woluwe, we had to find new partners and develop the product offer and especially the wool offer. 

Our Ixelles store no longer allowed us, due to lack of space, to develop the wool offer; Woluwe was going to be able to meet this need! 

One of the greatest successes of 2025 (not forgetting our great Japanese partners with whom we have collaborated since the beginning of C'est du Joly) is undoubtedly our collaboration with the French spinning mill Fonty. We went to meet them at the beginning of the year, in May 2025, hoping to collaborate quickly. The visit to the facilities and the explanation of their values were decisive in our desire to work together. 

When the municipality of Woluwe announced the good news to us, we immediately placed an order for Fonty products. By the way, you can find the article about the visit to Fonty here as well as the article about the choice of wools we made here.

I also strengthened existing collaborations that over time have become partnerships, notably with the company DMC which gave us the honor of being the flagship store of Woluwe Saint Lambert! We offer a beautiful selection of cotton for knitting and crocheting (especially amigurumis) but also embroidery (mouliné, écovita, kits...). 

Finally, as part of the yarn offer, we have expanded our Katia yarn selection, especially for sock yarn. 

We are no longer just simple customers, we interact with our suppliers: product choices, colors in the ranges... and ultimately we help each other; always for the benefit of our customers! 

Resolution 2025: find great partners validated ✅

Among other beautiful collaborations, there are no less than 60 sewing patterns designers available on our site in pouch and/or PDF versions with more than 2700 patterns available! You can find everything for women, men, children, accessories... In short, everyone will find their happiness! 

In any case, the whole team loves them and will continue to highlight all these beautiful models in 2026! 

Resolution 2025: find great partners validated ✅

I reread the 2025 resolutions to see if I had succeeded in my annual challenge and I must say overall I did well except... taking time for myself and recharging 🥲 You might say, you can't do everything but working 7 days a week and not taking a vacation for a year is tough!

Resolution 2025: Taking time for yourself, recharging ❌❌❌

That's why we will launch a recruitment in 2026 so I don't have to cover all the vacation replacements for team members because with 7 people each taking at least 20 days off per year, that's 140 days to cover 😂 we're almost at half a year! 

However, when I substitute, I don't do my manager's job: schedules, class planning, restocking, searching for new partnerships... that's not okay! 

So if you are interested, send your CV to eugenie@cestdujoly.be
Note that knowing how to sew is essential to the role, and mastering another creative art is welcome (crochet, knitting, embroidery, macramé...)

Here is our 2025 review at full speed! 
A year full of emotions and twists... I hope 2026 will be a bit gentler on my nerves 😂 but still as rich in festive and joyful moments because, let's face it, it was a great year! 

I am delighted to be surrounded by wonderful, caring, motivated, and smiling colleagues...

So are you coming to see us and discover our workshops and haberdashery?

Ready your needles!