I have big news to announce: our team is growing! 🥳 I’m filled with joy and energy because I know this will create excitement for the courses and partnerships but above all, we will be able to serve you even better in the shop.

I have to say that between tasks related to the shop, courses, energizing social media, the blog, etc., I work at least 70 hours a week 😅. I love my work but I’m well aware I can’t keep up such a pace long term. I clearly needed to take some time to review my organization and delegate some tasks; hence hiring a new recruit 😊

I must admit I’m delighted to be surrounded by little gems that have made C'est du Joly what it is and will make it even bigger tomorrow.

So this week, I thought it was time to introduce you to the key members of C'est du Joly and the new face you’re starting to meet in the shop. Here’s an exclusive report by our Swiss army knife, myself 😂: Who are they? Where do they come from? And what do they do? 

Introduction to the little story of C'est du Joly!

If you already know the story, feel free to skip to the next paragraph or reread it to refresh your memory 😊

It all started in April 2019. I created the sewing advice blog you are currently on. You are reading the 266th blog post. I haven’t stopped in 4 years with a pace of more than one article per week! Originally, I ran the blog to share my passion for sewing while working in a hospital setting. 

March 2020 marks a turning point in our time with covid but also in my professional life. It’s all hands on deck at the hospital, covid is coming... we have no masks but I know how to sew, more and more are asking me... my town calls for citizen initiatives to supply residents... With my partner, we launch the site C'est du Joly so people can easily place orders without going out. During the day, I work at the hospital, in the evening I sew masks and deliver them on foot before the curfew.

August 2020: I order Japanese fabric (4 rolls of 6m) because Japan is also one of my passions and their finely woven poplins are perfect for masks. Plus, they are so beautiful!

November 2020: We order more Japanese fabrics and haberdashery arrives to complete the offer because you ask me for materials to create bags. 

April 2021: I resign to focus solely on C'est du Joly and its development

July 2021: A commercial space near my home became available... the stars align, we move forward!

May 2022: After quite a bit of work, we open the physical shop and start the courses! Céline joins the team for sales on Saturdays while I teach sewing courses. 

End of 2022, we expanded the offer with products for knitting, embroidery, and crochet. Céline teaches the crochet courses and I teach the embroidery courses 😊. 

2023: I work a lot and you might remember that in my 2023 resolutions, I talk about getting help... I get a call from Marie-Hélène whom I don’t know at all, and she tells me she would like to work with me 😳. We arrange an interview and we really hit it off... we’re on the same wavelength... Come on, admit it... you want to know who Marie-Hélène is? Let’s go! 

Marie Hélène: our shop advisor and sewing and knitting teacher

Marie has been passionate about fiber arts since she was very young. For a long time, she tried to make her own clothes as a self-taught person with varying degrees of success…  

In 2012, she fell for a knitted shawl pattern and, stubbornly, taught herself to knit to be able to make it. Her passion for this craft never left her, and she has been knitting every day since! Over the years, Marie-Hélène has experimented with many knitting techniques, always using circular needles... yarns of different thicknesses, stitches from the simplest to the most complex, and has become an expert in the field! Her creations are neat and very aesthetic!

In 2018, after a career of several years in art history and secondary education, life’s twists happily gave her the opportunity to train in sewing. She is now a graduate in women's garment making from the Institut Jeanne Toussaint, located on the Arts and Crafts campus in Brussels. After her diploma, Marie-Hélène started as an independent sewing and knitting teacher, passionately sharing these creative arts while continuing to learn various techniques. 

And shh, she has a superpower: she is left-handed! If she takes her tools like a right-hander, she can also knit and guide you in learning to knit 😊

Fun facts: 

Marie Hélène never has two matching socks in her shoes... long live mismatched! 

Real pizza is her favorite dish :) and like Céline, she’s completely crazy about cats. 

Her favorite color is mauve and she always carries a touch of it with her. She still writes the old-fashioned way, with a fountain pen, and loves the nostalgic side of postal mail. 

She’s much happier when it’s cold rather than hot, her favorite shoes are embroidered Dr Martens, even though, to her great misfortune, they’re hardly compatible with a sewing machine pedal. 

The length of her hair has varied a lot, going for example from 60 cm to 5!

As a true fashion fan, she must have seen the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" at least 12 times. 

Céline our shop advisor and crochet instructor

But who is this pretty, slightly shy blonde who runs the shop on Saturdays? It’s Céline! Don’t be mistaken, Céline is not a student but a great sewing and crochet advisor. 

Céline is an extremely creative person. She started studying photography in Tournai before switching to jewelry training. With her diploma in hand, she looked for a job related to her expertise in metalwork. Here she is hired as a restorer of archaeological metal objects! Since then, Céline has become a reference in Belgium for restoring ancient objects. She takes us on a journey when she describes what she restores: canoes, shields, cauldrons, Gallo-Roman chariots... In short, Céline knows how to do lots of things: chemistry, welding... she amazes me! 

Beyond that, Céline works with enamels, creates enamel jewelry on copper plates, and she’s also our granny crochet as she likes to call herself! She makes shawls, bags, amigurumis that are a feast for the eyes! You’ll see quite a few of them in the shop.

Since May 2022, Céline has been advising you in the shop on Saturdays while I teach courses at the workshop, and she leads the crochet courses. 

Fun Facts:

Céline loves ❤️❤️❤️ cats. She has two: a pure white one with heterochromia eyes, Adélie, and a little tortoiseshell named Boogie Woogie

Céline also loves glitter, birds, and has a green thumb. She regularly gives me plant cuttings that grow extremely well in the workshop. 

Believe it or not, but Céline's musical passion is metal, and not just any metal: post-hardcore (don’t ask me more, I don’t understand it 😂) 

Gaëtan the super manager and the lord of the cash register

Gaëtan is, above all, my partner but not only that... he is also my management partner. If C'est du Joly exists today, it is largely thanks to him. He gave me the drive and encouragement to start the adventure, and I owe him a lot. 

Today, he manages all the IT (sales, stock, website, photo editing) while I create the product sheets 😊. He also handles contracts, accounting, finance, and believe me, that's no small task in a small growing business like ours! In short, all the boring stuff I don't like 😂

He is also my designated photographer. However, we have to take photos quickly because he doesn't like that part much 😂 

Finally, he is my blog and newsletter article proofreader. 

Fun Facts: 

Gaëtan is a video game fanatic; Zelda holds no secrets for him! 

He speaks 6 languages: French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese

He cooks Italian very well and is a foodie... you can't just serve him anything, no way!

He was the first Japan enthusiast who passed on his passion to me. 

Eugénie: shop manager, sewing and embroidery teacher, and everything else 😂

Since I was little, I dreamed of a profession that combines contact and creativity. I must say that from the age of 5, I started embroidery. I grew up surrounded by my grandfather, a shoemaker (a true artist), and a grandmother who was a seamstress and also organized the village banquets. She knew how to cook, that I can tell you!

So, at 6 years old I wanted to be a florist, at 12 I saw myself as a restaurateur, and at 18 it was the profession of seamstress/stylist that interested me the most. My parents wanted me to pursue further studies, and I embarked on professional life, leaving my sweet dream behind... In the early 2010s, I told myself I really had to do something for me, just for me. So I signed up for my first real sewing course. I haven't stopped since. 

I've been sewing every day since! I continued to train with different teachers. I read a lot and, above all, gained a lot of experience by sewing a lot! My goal is to have a wardrobe entirely hand-sewn, and since Gaetan joined the homemade wardrobe adventure.

Finally, to complete my training, I participated in the pattern making program organized by Marie-Emilienne, the creator of Iam patterns, in 2020. 

You know what happened next...

Today, I am in charge of the haberdashery and the workshop. I run the shop, as they say 😂. I advise you in the haberdashery with Marie-Hélène and Céline. I teach sewing and traditional hand embroidery courses. 

Finally, I’m the one who places supplier orders and is responsible for fabric selection. As you’ve seen browsing the shop’s products, I love beautiful patterns, sparkles, and products that stand out. Since I’m a seamstress myself, I wanted to create an environment where you feel good. A shop where you get quality advice from people who know what they’re talking about, a place to take the courses I wish I had when I started over 10 years ago! 

Fun Facts: 

I am passionate about Japan (even more than Gaetan) and my love for the country led me to learn Japanese. Yes, yes, the shop radio is in Japanese 😂

I have a great memory that helps me remember kanji (Chinese characters) but also manage the store (thank you memory, you are so precious to me). 

In another life, I was responsible for over 300 people in the hospital sector. A position I left to open the shop and, in hindsight, with no regrets at all.  

I am passionate about reading and, as you might expect, I love Japanese literature. 

And yes, I am the shortest in the team at 1.53m. So you’ve guessed it, I also have quite a bit of experience in pattern fitting! 

I am really delighted to work surrounded by these wonderful people in joy and good spirits, and that's the most important thing in life (along with health), I think!

Bonus for the most attentive who read to the end of the article 😂 find a little gift in your web orders placed between 6/5/2023 and 6/11/2023 if you tell me GALA in reply to your order confirmation email or for those who shop in-store: say Gala at the checkout to receive your little present.

Do you know the newest member of the team (who doesn't come with me to the shop but lounges around at home)?

Gala, roles: cat and emotional support 

Yes, this is my purring emotional support, our little Gala whom you sometimes see in photos or Instagram stories. She's a 12-year-old Persian cat, very sweet and cute. 

Leave a piece of paper or a scrap of fabric somewhere in the house and you'll automatically get cat hair. Gala is always on the lookout when it comes to causing adorable trouble. 

Well, you probably figured out by now that around here, we're on team cat 😂