Continuing the legacy with Barbados Today

Elaine’s a legacy of love, community, and success

When Nikisha Toppin first started selling crochet products, she was a teenager hooked on crochet because of the trending fashion focus of the time.

She would crochet tams for herself and friends, curating her own designs, using her grandmother’s plethora of books and manuals available at home. Her grandmother, Elaine Doyle, was a handicraft tutor and facilitator, enabling countless women and girls to learn the different artforms of crochet, macrame, needlepoint, beadwork, and shellwork.

She fondly remembers her grandmother keeping toilet paper rolls, plastic bottles, and juice boxes to make mats and decorative wall designs.

Nikisha’s first official foray into using crochet as a means of income generation came about through the raising of funds for a missionary trip to the Bahamas. Nikisha says of that period, “I remember taking orders to make tams for friends at church. I have always been entrepreneurial in that regard, by wanting to give people value for the investment of their money.”

The missionary trip took place in 2004, and now, more than twenty years later, Nikisha has established Elaine’s Caribbean Crochet, a legacy of love, community, and success, as a tribute to her grandmother, and her work in the arena of arts and crafts.

Legacy of love

Through Elaine’s, the love of crochet is flourishing with crochet classes both online and in-person at Elaine’s Creative Studio, conveniently located at Norman Centre. The programme teaches the basics of crochet, granting participants the opportunity to learn the reading of patterns, foundational crochet stitches, and the creation of clothing products.

Nikisha explains “Students learn the chain stitch through to the treble crochet stitch, with each class practicum leading to the creation of a product such as a spa cloth, tams, or bags.” The classes are held weekly for two-hour timeframes at a reasonable cost for persons each month. The free Youth Good News Crochet Club, held on Fridays at 3:30pm allows the younger generation to practice crochet in a safe space while learning biblical principles.

Legacy of Community

“During COVID-19, we introduced our Webinar Wednesday concept, where we brought together crochet artisans from around the Cairbbean to share their lived experience with the craft. Participants to these workshops were from the western and eastern Caribbean giving us the diversity of information needed to inspire continuous action.” The social enterprise also introduced Tutor Tuesday hosting online crochet classes and Feature Friday, promoting crocheters through recorded ZOOM interviews. Nikisha shares that the essential ingredient to the union of the community was the launch of the Caribbean crochet directory on the website, where the social media pages of the crochet artisans could be easily located. “Through these events, and grant funding provided by Catapult Arts Grants, BYBT, and the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme of the United Nations Development Programme, we have been able to execute programming in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.” Elaine’s flagship project, “Crochet for a Cause: Ridge to Reef” has enabled crochet artisans to be paid for their contributions to the arts on a weekly basis in Barbados.

Legacy of Success

Through these initiatives, Elaine’s has received awards for the enterprise’s service to the community including the “MicroPitch Caribbean Best Female Entrepreneur” and the Barbados Small Business Association Manufacturing Award, “National Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sustainable Development,” “Small Business of the Year Award,” and the distinguished “Chairman’s Award.” While Nikisha acknowledges that the accolades signify the investment of time, talent, and treasure utilised to establish the business, she emphasises that honouring her grandmother remains the inspiration and impetus to continue in the arts and crafts field. “Our programme participants always express that the classes and workshops have helped them to fall in love with crochet, take back up crochet, or simply have the artform as a hobby and stress reliever.”

The current theme for Elaine’s Caribbean Crochet is “The Perfect Stitch for 2026”.

Nikisha looks forward to helping more persons love crochet, to including more countries in the “Crochet for a Cause: Ridge to Reef” project, and to building on the enterprise’s current success in the arena of crochet. Interested persons can learn more at https://elainescaribbeancrochet.com/