I have big news to announce: our team is growing and beware, you’re not ready to read what’s next! 🥳 So, hold on, sit down because what follows is just amazing!

I’m really happy to welcome a new person to the team who is not only highly qualified but also someone with whom I share a very strong emotional bond. My heart is full of joy and gratitude to be able to work with her because she will teach me so many things through her background and long professional experience. Ah, ah you’re asking, aren’t you: "but who is this expert?"

Here’s a clue: she has dark hair with pretty tattoos on her arms, she is a fashion designer-pattern maker and led a lovely mercerie in Uccle for 10 years, near Place Brugmann. 

Did you guess?

This is Vanessa from the mercerie Wonderland! 

Céline, Marie, Gaëtan and I are really happy to welcome our new colleague. You’ve guessed it, Vanessa won’t really help me channel my ideas; but she will help me bring them to life! 

So this week on the blog, we’re discovering Vanessa but also the key members of C'est du Joly. Let’s go for an exclusive report!

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 blog advice where you are currently reading. You are reading the 351st blog article. I haven’t been idle in 5 years with a pace of more than one article per week! Originally, I kept the blog to share my passion for sewing while working in a hospital environment. 

March 2020 marks a turning point 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 the residents... With my Gaetan, we launch the site C'est du Joly so people can order easily 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 fine woven popelines are perfect for masks. Plus, they are so beautiful!

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

April 2021: I resign to devote myself entirely to C'est du Joly and its development.
July 2021: A commercial space becomes available near my home... 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 the sewing courses. 
End of 2022, we expand 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 receive a call from Marie-Hélène, whom I don’t know at all, and she tells me she would like to work with me 😳. Marie joins us and takes over part of the courses and opens new time slots. This allows me to work on new course themes. We also start knitting courses. 

January 2024: Once again carried away by my creative joy and excited with Marie to create new courses, well, we can’t keep up in the shop and we absolutely need reinforcement. Céline leaves her job in December 2023 and joins us full-time in March 2024.

That's when Vanessa visits us because she is looking for a new challenge after closing her haberdashery at the end of 2023. I would be delighted to have her with us, but we just hired Céline, and we really can't afford to hire two people at the same time. Bad timing 😅!

No worries, 2025 will be the right year! 

So, do you want to know more about Vanessa and our team? 

Vanessa, our fashion designer-pattern maker, sewing teacher, and sales advisor. 

Are you wondering why I have a strong emotional connection with Vanessa? No, she is not my sister or my cousin... Vanessa is my first sewing teacher! She accompanied my first steps in sewing and pattern making. She taught me the love of beautiful finishes, so yes, yes, we still have plenty of building, basting, ironing, toile making, and more to do at C'est du Joly! But let's get back to Vanessa as described by herself! 

"Coming from a Brussels family where architects, painters, and sculptors are numerous, I fell into the artistic pot from early childhood. It was very early on that my passion for fashion history and craftsmanship led me to learn sewing, fashion techniques, and the art of thread in all its forms.  It was through Parisian and Brussels fashion schools, as well as rigorous training in the Haute Couture workshops of Christian Lacroix, that I trained as a Fashion Designer and Milliner.  At the end of my studies in 1996, it was during an international fashion competition in Beijing, "the international China Brother Cup," where I won the gold laurels, that I realized how essential it is to share, transmit, and spread this precious know-how. My idea of opening a large creative space combining all crafts related to the art of thread gradually took root... but it was another wonderful gift that life put on my path, my greatest creation, my daughter Zoé.  My new family life led me to work in various sectors such as ready-to-wear, Horeca management, organic cosmetics, and management in a high-end spa. My background is quite broad and unconventional but also very rich in experiences!

Many years later in 2013, it was this passion for textiles and craftsmanship that inspired me again when I opened the Wonderland haberdashery in Brussels. The exchange, sharing, the rigorous yet magical atmosphere in which I had immersed myself for many years had left a deep mark on me, and it was clear that one day I would return. For 10 years, my shop-workshop brought me intense happiness, extraordinary encounters, and a human learning experience of immeasurable richness! Then the wheel of life and especially the unstable Covid period required me to make choices and redirect my professional path. It was in January 2023 that the Wonderland haberdashery closed its doors. It was at the beginnings of the Wonderland haberdashery that I met a young woman who was "so kawaiii." She was very, very motivated and eager to learn ALL the sewing techniques. Super passionate like me, about sewing and Japan: Eugénie Joly. She was such a diligent, courageous, and fulfilled student in this world that I am not surprised her dream of opening her own haberdashery quickly came true.  When Eugénie invited me to join her dream team in early January 2025, I literally jumped for joy. This great news immediately made me envision a wonderful collaboration as well as beautiful projects ahead. For my part, joining the C'est du Joly team will allow me to reconnect with that creative and collaborative energy I have always cherished and shared. 

Vanessa CHINESE PORTRAIT. If I were ... 
 - a quote: always look on the bright side of life
 - a sound: the sound of waves
 - a gift: healing through simple touch of the hands
 - a color: indigo - a passion: sewing, knitting, reading, cooking, nature walks (yes I know it’s more than one hihihi) another passion: JAPAN
 - an element: air
 - an emotion: joy
 - a flower: jasmine 
 - a fruit: persimmon
- an animal/insect: the blue morpho butterfly
 - a food: red Shiso leaf (Japanese basil)
 - a dish: any Asian street food 
 - a drink: Bancha Hojicha (Japanese roasted green tea)
 - a season: spring
 - a city: Bangkok 
 - a country: Japan
 - a place on earth: the seaside
 - a song: "come on home" Lijadu Sisters
 - a book: The Art of Listening to the Heartbeats by JF Sendker
 - a movie: Blade Runner by Ridley Scott
 - a precious stone: emerald

And on the fashion and creation side, a little more about Vanessa: 

My favorite designer: Madame Grès.
She is for me one of the greatest seamstresses and haute couture designers of the 20th century. A genius and an unparalleled virtuoso in the very complex techniques of draping and pleating. Too little known (probably because she was a woman “just a seamstress” and not a man “a great couturier”), she was nevertheless a mentor to a very large number of designers. The complexity, stunning beauty, elegance, and breathtaking style of her creations move me every time I face this pure talent… last time, I cried, so moved I was!   

My favorite pattern: Fibremood - the Carmella jumpsuit   
My favorite material: In knitting, it’s mohair because it’s above all a natural (animal) fiber, super soft, fluffy, and light, which I’ve become completely crazy about since I started knitting. In sewing, my preference is denim because it can take all shapes, weights, and shades of blue, it’s dyed with indigo (not real but chemical), and it adapts to any pattern (clothing, accessories, etc).
My motif: flowers, flowers, and more flowers, especially when they are mega-giga-giant and inspired by “old botanical plates.”  
Varied fun fact: My sleeve tattoos: I’m not very complicated, since I’m passionate about old botanical plates (thanks Grandma) and one day I found a beautiful fabric with large botanical flowers… I made a design to get a tattoo on my right arm and a shirt to match hihihi. Then I got two swallows tattooed on my left arm, which is a kind of talisman to remind me of the values that matter to me... because according to legend, “the swallow always always returns home safe.” 

Marie Hélène: our sewing and knitting teacher and sales advisor 

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, she taught herself to knit in order to make it. The passion for this craft never left her, and she has been picking up her knitting needles every day since!  

Over the years, Marie-Hélène experimented with several knitting techniques, but always with circular needles... yarns of different thicknesses, stitches from the simplest to the most complex, and she became 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 graduated in women’s garment making from the Jeanne Toussaint Institute, 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 train in various techniques. And shh, she has a superpower: she’s left-handed! If she holds her tools like a right-hander, she can also knit and guide you in learning knitting 😊 

It’s now been two years since Marie-Hélène happily joined us!

Fun facts:  

Along the same lines as my always mismatched socks, when I wear pierced earrings, they’re always different too. Coordinated, but different :) 

One of my regrets in life is not having tattoos (my skin is way too allergic for that). So, I make up for it with some pretty silver rings. I’m very attached to one of them that I bought myself after passing an important exam for me when I was in sewing training. 

One of my interests is art history (it goes in all directions). Since I committed to sewing, I’ve also started reading all the (auto)biographies I could find about sewing and a bit about jewelry making too.

I’ve already read about the lives of: Jeanne Lanvin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Gucci, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Paul Poiret.

Right now, I’m living the Givenchy life! 

Some people name their sewing mannequins; for me, it’s my machines that have nicknames: The sewing machine is Elsa and the serger is Vivienne.
I’ll let you guess where these first names come from, right!?

My sewing wishes for the future: This year, as "big pieces," I would really like to make the Pénélope jeans by Coralie Bijasson, a trench coat with beautiful finishes. I also aim to train in new sewing techniques. In her previous newsletter, Eugénie said, "I already have plenty of ideas for training in 2025, Marie too, so Céline is in charge of bringing us back down to earth so we choose one or two activities." Indeed, I love learning and I’m curious about many techniques! I’ll let you discover that throughout 2025! 

My favorite designer: Ohlala! Hard to choose! I really like Coralie Bijasson for the precision of her patterns, her beautiful finishes, and the variety of models offered.

My favorite pattern: Well, I think it’s going to be Rainbow by I Am Pattern. I sewed it at the end of last year in a totally fun sweatshirt, and I love it! I also adore the infinite possibilities offered by Marie-Emilienne. I’m in the process of making it my own to create "my version." But since I always have 1000 projects on the go, it takes a bit of time.

My favorite material: In sewing, cotton. I find it super pleasant to wear and very comfortable. It can be thin, thick, stretchy, airy... The possibilities are endless. It’s durable, works very nicely... In short, all good for me. In knitting, however, it’s merino. I love the woolly that I really enjoy putting on my needles. It’s well twisted, gives a very nice stitch definition, and is machine washable!

Céline, our shop advisor and crochet teacher

No, no, Céline is not a student! Céline is our super shop advisor in sewing and crochet, and she continues to train, especially in knitting. 

Céline is an extremely creative person. She started photography studies in Tournai before switching to training in jewelry making. With her diploma in hand, she looked for a job related to her expertise in metalwork. She was hired as a restorer of archaeological metal objects! It’s a profession she practiced for about fifteen years.

Beyond that, Céline works with enamels, creates enamel jewelry on copper plates, but she is also our granny crochet as she likes to call herself! She makes shawls, bags, amigurumis that are a feast for the eyes! You will actually see quite a few of them in the shop. Since May 2022, Céline has been advising you in the shop on Saturdays, and since early 2024, she is there every day except Monday. 

Céline is also our dedicated crochet teacher.

Fun Facts:
Céline loves ❤️❤️❤️ cats. She has two: a completely white one with heterochromia eyes, Adélie, and a small tortoiseshell named Boogie Woogie. When she encounters an animal in the street or in nature, Céline shouts with inner joy. She loves crows, which she finds incredible!

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

Céline has a passion for the cosmos. She can spend hours looking at the sky, even from her window because she’s lucky to have a fairly clear view. 

Céline has a little passion for quantum physics too, even if she says she doesn’t understand it 😅, she reads lots of fascinating articles and has probably watched almost all the popular science videos on YouTube. Her favorite season is winter, foggy days with a layer of snow fill her with joy. The snow crunching underfoot is the most pleasant sound in the world according to her. 

Her favorite designer: Jeremy Scott for his quirky, fun, joyful side, the opposite of what you mostly see in fashion. It’s full of humor, madness and he demystifies the fashion world which, I find, often takes itself too seriously. 

Her favorite Pattern: Cassiopeia by Iam Patterns 

Her favorite material and patterns: it’s double gauze because there’s nothing more comfortable!

Céline loves patterns with animals, especially cats and birds.

Gaëtan the super manager, the lord of the purse, the IT and customer service technician

Gaëtan is above all my boyfriend ❤️ but not only that... he is also my management partner. If C'est du Joly exists today, it’s 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, HR and believe me, it’s no small feat in a small growing business like ours! 

He is also a support for customer service especially since the increase of our offer of PDF patterns. 

He is also the handyman of the team 😉

Finally, he is my proofreader for blog articles and newsletters.  

In short, Gaetan is hyperactive 🤣  

Some Fun Facts: 
- He speaks 6 languages: French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese and he wants to learn more😳
- he's an athlete: he runs 5 to 10km every morning upon waking up before having his breakfast and on top of that he does fitness in the evening 😅
- He loves cooking and is a foodie
- He’s the first Japan enthusiast who passed on his passion to me. 
- He’s the guide on our trips (because I’m the one who makes the plans otherwise we wouldn’t go anywhere) but without him to get me there we’d quickly go in circles 🤣

His favorite designer: Eugénie of course, he says 💖 

His favorite pattern: It’s the bombers l'Irrésistible from the les Beaux Gosses patterns. I had sewn it in wax print and every mid-season, Gaetan takes it out of the wardrobe and it really pops with its beautiful colors! 

His favorite material: cotton jersey, he’s Mr. T-shirt!

Eugénie: shop manager, sewing teacher, classic embroidery and sashiko instructor, in charge of 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. 

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. I bought my first sewing machine, a Toyota! I signed up for my first real sewing course and you guessed it, I signed up with Vanessa. Every week, I went there with a smile on my face and several projects started at home in my sewing bag. My goal: to learn lots of new techniques and vary the projects as much as possible. Vanessa patiently helped me unblock my projects where I got stuck and then I continued at home with my technical books. I haven’t stopped since and have sewn every day! I continued training with different teachers over the years. I read a lot and especially 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 perfect my training, I participated in the pattern making program organized by Marie-Emilienne, the creator of Iam patterns in 2020. By the way, I did it with Eowyn from the Sew la jupe pattern brand, whose patterns we sell on the site including the famous sewing kit! You know the rest...

Today, I am the manager of the haberdashery and the workshop. I am also the buyer and product selector. I photograph the products, describe them, and put them online. There are over 10,000 references in haberdashery, sewing, embroidery, knitting and crochet, courses, etc. I am quite proud of my output 😂 even if it comes at the expense of my tidiness and pushes the store’s limits. 

I am also the person responsible for collaborations, especially for finding suppliers but also for developing the pattern library which grew a lot during 2024 with over 1300 references!

I teach some of the sewing, hand embroidery, and sashiko courses.
Finally, I develop the themes for new courses and am responsible for the course schedule grids and the team’s hours, always with my little assistant who corrects my mistakes. 

Last but not least, I manage social media and messaging: a blog post and a weekly newsletter, daily Facebook and Instagram posts, etc. I also respond to messages: email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, SMS, and more.  

So please be patient if I don’t reply within a minute or if, unfortunately, a message slips past me; send it again (gently and kindly) and I will do my best to respond as quickly as possible. 

Fun Facts:  I am a great enthusiast of Japan (even more than Gaetan) and my love for the country led me to learn Japanese. I have a memory like an elephant 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. I am passionate about reading and, as you might guess, I love Japanese literature.  

My favorite designer: It’s Vivienne Westwood for her incredible jackets, coats, and capes, the use of broderie anglaise, leather, draping, tartan, but also and especially for the attitude! Because Vivienne is punk, she is free and committed to the causes that speak to her. Whether you like her or not, Vivienne was an incredible character, and not wearing underwear when invited to the Queen of England’s; that’s truly being free and punk! In a different style, I also really like Madeleine Vionnet who worked with bias cuts and draping and freed women’s bodies from corsets long before Chanel. More contemporary, I also really like the work of Jean-Claude Jitrois who, like me, comes from the hospital field (he is a psychomotor therapist) and who developed his own fashion brand and advanced fabric technology with his machine-washable stretch leather. 

My favorite pattern: I think it’s my Agathe jumpsuit from Cha Coud. I made it in the original summer version in a Japanese cotton with a camellia pattern. I hacked it in denim with sashiko embroidery. I love both versions in which I feel super comfortable. 

My favorite material: I think it's denim! I love this beautiful fabric that allows you to make pants but not only that! Jackets, jumpsuits, dresses, skirts, there’s a bit of everything in my wardrobe in this material! I would also add Japanese cotton, yes, we can’t not talk about it! It’s the base of my blouses and summer dresses. Their patterns are incredible and the quality is always spot on!

There you go, you know everything or almost everything about us. 

Want to visit us? To take courses with our dream team?

Don't hesitate to come meet us at 357 avenue de la Couronne in Ixelles, and I'm just saying, but Vanessa will be teaching courses during the day (by the way, check out the new open workshop slot on Mondays at 3:30 PM) and on weekends. More surprises are coming, but shh, I won't say more!

In any case, we promise you lots of beautiful things and fun this year!