After the 2024 review, comes the challenge of the 2025 resolutions!

As you know, ideas are not lacking in my head but as my grandmother used to say "you can't do everything"! One of the biggest challenges will therefore be to choose because too many ideas, desires, and resolutions paralyze. So we sorted things out and above all I took the time to refocus on the values and principles that guided the opening of the shop and our workshop. 

Rethinking what drives us, what makes us want to get up in the morning to come open the shop, give courses, offer beautiful supplies... and finally what is the heart, the essence of C'est du Joly?

I took the time to note what was very important to me, what made me happy... 

Ready to discover what I have learned, what I have chosen to keep progressing in 2025?

Let's go! 

Our values and core business

When I started my blog in 2019, it was values of sharing that inspired me.

To be honest, I had nothing to gain from it. I forced myself to write one article, even two articles per week; a bit like a tenacity challenge given the low reading rate at the beginning. Gradually, more and more readers came, the writing became a bit bolder, the expression easier...

This little blog from the beginning is now 6 years old and today counts 350 articles! You can no longer say it is a little blog, it is a mature blog 😂 a bit like me 😂

One article per week for 6 years even on vacation, even sick, I stuck to it... tenacity, perseverance... a touch of madness? In any case, a lot of passion! 

It is also the passion that pushed me to apply to the Burda contest and to be among the finalists for the fashion show in February 2020 just before the lockdown. It is also there that I met Astrid and Auriane from the show Cousu Main with Christina Cordula...
It pushes me to learn and expand my knowledge for myself but also to better support my students because I started in 2020 to give courses for another Brussels haberdashery now closed.
I will start a pattern making training some time later 😊

This passion, covid, and Gaëtan pushed me in 2020 to open the online shop. From threads to needles, from masks to fabrics, from buttons to straps... my apartment turned into a small stockroom, even a large stockroom. It was more than time to find a place to store all my stock! 

I also wanted to find a classroom to share my love of beautiful finishes, good methods, and help my students progress with each course towards more autonomy.

Pride, fulfillment, the achievement of these. That is what makes me vibrate and gives me the desire to have my own classroom with my teaching methods based on a solid theoretical foundation, practical exercises, and the creation of final pieces. 

The stars aligned because two months after resigning from the hospital, we found the perfect space to set up to create the cocoon I dreamed of. A little cocoon where you feel good whether you come to the shop, the workshop, or both 😊. 

In summary, when you come to C'est du Joly you can expect:

-Of the fulfillment of our customers, students but also of our employees and myself because we must not forget ourselves 😀 

Fulfillment is giving someone the fullness of their faculties, making them happy, fulfilled

With us, it translates into your smiles when you make your first rows of stitches whether by sewing machine, embroidery needle, knitting or crochet! Seeing your pride and happiness in having created your first pieces is priceless! But it is also seeing our students progress! Some now sew their own coat, jeans, jacket with welt pockets, etc., having started their learning with our module "I discover sewing". Watching them grow in their knowledge, seeing them delighted and proud to wear their creations is a great pleasure for us!

Fulfillment is also seeing your smiles leaving with your head full of projects with your purchases in the shop, receiving compliments on our Alibaba's cave, on the blog articles I take care to write every week, it fills me with joy! 

-Some sharing of knowledge, love of beautiful materials and beautiful colors, passion for beautiful finishes

Sharing is transmitting information, spreading, giving a part of oneself and that is what we want for C'est du Joly. 

We want to provide quality teaching, in good spirits and with kindness to all our students. We also want to guide you in the shop and look for solutions to create your projects, sometimes repair them or even improve them. 

Finally, we love sharing our love of materials and colors because the sky is gray enough in Belgium without adding it to our clothes! It's no coincidence that I bring back pretty colorful fabrics from Japan! 

-Some rigor in teachings and methods, in the choice of our suppliers and supplies 

Rigor is the character of someone or something distinguished by perfect accuracy, logic, and precision. 

As I often say when introducing the courses "here we don't do froufrou 😂"; here we advocate beautiful finishes because we want all the creations that come out of the workshop to be creations you will be proud of but also that will last over time! We promote durability through a rigorous choice of materials and by choosing solid finishes. 

Finally, C'est du Joly is also a good dose of energy, colors, and fun! 

Resolution 1: Share 

In 2025, we will continue to share our passion and love for textile arts and yarn with:

- one blog article per week 🤘🏻

- some courses with our themes that have become classics, new themes and new items (but let's keep a little mystery...)

- the love of beautiful finishes because we really want our students to learn the right techniques and methods so that they are proud of their creations

- participation in the first Art du fil festival in Brussels! 

Céline, Marie, Gaetan, and I will also continue to do activities together, share great moments, exchange... because that's also the spirit of C'est du Joly... we work hard yes but with fun! 

It also involves moments of DIY, tidying up, but also little restaurants, slices of pizza, bubbles to celebrate life events! 

Resolution 2: Find great partners

Last year we offered about twenty new partners for sewing patterns and it was a great experience to discover very nice pattern makers.

We have also found great Japanese and European suppliers to offer you fabrics and supplies of very high quality such as: Daruma, Tulip, Clover, Olympus, Kobayashi, ...

In 2025, we will definitely continue to offer you new things! 

Gaetan and I have already planned visits to trade shows and a visit to our Japanese suppliers.

Resolution 3: Continue to develop yourself

When I was a teenager, I had a little card with a photo of a bike and under it a little mantra that said to move forward you had to pedal... but also that if you don't pedal, well you fall! 

In other words, immobility causes your fall.

I agree with that and that's why, as a good hyperactive person, I am committed to continuing to develop C'est du Joly for you, for me, but also for the team!

Having new things, offering new beautiful supplies and materials, course themes, concepts... that's also part of our identity.

We are still looking for a larger space that allows us to offer more courses in the evening and on Saturdays. If you have any ideas, don't hesitate to let me know. 

Resolution 4: Continue training to offer you new course themes

As I said earlier, sharing and being rigorous is good but it requires a good dose of self-work! You have to stay up to date, it's very important for me, the team, and our students. In 2024, Marie, Céline, and I continued to train ourselves, document to offer you lots of new courses:

- patchwork
- lingerie and lace thong
- summer tops in crochet and knitting
- knitted socks
- quilted lined jackets
- theoretical courses on fabrics
- ...

In short, some great workshops and of course there will be more new things in 2025!

I already have plenty of ideas to train myself in 2025, Marie too 🤣 so Céline is in charge of bringing us back down to earth so we can choose one or two activities. It just goes to show that in a team, you need different profiles and that is what brings richness. I think we will be ready to launch new course themes in the second half of the year and you will love it! I am sure we will please many of you and that is really great!

Resolution 5: Take time for yourself, recharge

I have now been working a lot for 6 years and I love it! I was already doing it at the hospital and I guess you can't change who you are 😂!

I always have 1000 ideas per second, I sometimes (often) get overwhelmed by my enthusiasm or even my positivity, and sometimes the landing of realism is a bit harsh! 

That is also why I need to take a step back, so this year, I decided to take two half-days off from the shop and the courses... because the pace of 6 days out of 7 or sometimes even 6.5/7 days is still "a bit much"... Usually when you don't see me in the shop, it's because I am placing orders, doing data entry, communication, contacting future partners... the tasks are endless! 

So I will take advantage of two half-days off to do relaxing activities, sew, embroider for pleasure, work on my Japanese, read novels, ... in short, do things I love and that make me feel good because that is also part of a person's fulfillment.

I am counting a lot on our new recruit to help me in this regard... because she will allow me to free up time in my work week... Can't wait for us to introduce our future colleague to you!