This is a free crochet pattern for an evidence bag pouch: a 5 by 7 inch envelope style pouch in manila gold worsted cotton, with a red tamper seal band on the flap, a white chain of custody label panel on the front, and a button closure. Confident beginner level. Single crochet throughout. A full version with lettering templates, three sizes, and a printable custody tag is available as a paid PDF.
The pouch is worked as one flat strip of single crochet, 20 stitches wide and 78 rows long, then folded and seamed. No shaping, no joins in the round.
The red band on the flap is a four row color change. The buttonhole is a two stitch chain space. Those are the only two techniques beyond plain single crochet.
The white label panel is crocheted separately, embroidered with four backstitch lines to suggest a custody form, and sewn on. You can write on it with a fabric pen.
Gauge matters here the way it matters everywhere else on this site: if you do not verify it, the finished object will not match the record.
Why an Accountability Site Is Publishing a Crochet Pattern
I spend most of my working hours inside dockets, transcripts, and FOIA responses. Readers who have been here a while know the house aesthetic: pink string on the murderboard, the striped notebook, the brass magnifying glass. The string is not decoration. It is how I think. Connecting two documents with a physical line forces you to articulate why they connect.
Crochet operates on the same discipline. A pattern is a procedure. Every row is a documented step, every stitch count is a verification point, and when the count is off, you do not push forward and hope. You frog back to the last row that reconciles and rework from there. Anyone who has audited a chain of custody log will recognize the method.
So this is not a pivot. It is the same methodology in a different medium, and it produces a pouch shaped like the most procedurally honest object in the entire criminal legal system: the evidence bag. An evidence bag makes one promise. What went in is what comes out, and every hand it passed through is written on the front. Institutions break that promise often enough to keep me in work. The bag itself never lies.
Make one. Put your hooks in it, or your field notebook, or your phone. Write your own name on the label. You are the first link in the chain.
What You Are Making
An envelope style pouch, approximately 5 inches wide and 7 inches tall with a 3 inch fold over flap. The body is manila gold, the flap carries a red band representing tamper evident sealing tape, and the front carries a white label panel with embroidered form lines. The flap closes with a single button. The fabric is dense single crochet worked at a firm gauge, so the pouch holds its shape without lining.
Materials and Gauge
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Yarn | Worsted weight (#4 medium) cotton recommended for structure. Main color (MC): manila gold or tan, approximately 120 yards. Contrast color 1 (CC1): red, approximately 15 yards. Contrast color 2 (CC2): white, approximately 20 yards. |
| Hook | 4.0 mm (US G/6), or size needed to obtain gauge. This is intentionally smaller than the ball band suggestion to produce firm fabric. |
| Notions | One 19 mm (3/4 inch) button, black embroidery floss, tapestry needle, two stitch markers, optional fine tip fabric pen. |
| Gauge | 16 sc and 18 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in single crochet, after light blocking. |
| Finished size | Approximately 5 inches wide by 7 inches tall, flap closed. |
| Skill level | Confident beginner. |
Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Meaning (US terms) |
|---|---|
| ch | chain |
| sc | single crochet |
| sk | skip |
| st(s) | stitch(es) |
| MC | main color (manila gold) |
| CC1 | contrast color 1 (red) |
| CC2 | contrast color 2 (white) |
The pattern is written in US terms. The turning ch 1 at the start of each row does not count as a stitch. Stitch counts at the end of a row appear in parentheses.
The paid edition adds a printable EVIDENCE lettering template for the red band, a CJ monogram duplicate stitch chart, resized instructions for a hook case and a tablet sleeve plus a formula for any size, a schematic, and a printable chain of custody gift tag. Instant download.
Get the Full Pattern PDF, $15The Pattern
Pattern Notes and Substitutions
Acrylic worsted works if cotton is not on hand, though the fabric will be softer and the label panel benefits from a stabilizer behind it. For a sturdier bag, a round of slip stitch around the finished edging sharpens every line. If you prefer a snap to a button, skip Rows 75 and 76 buttonhole instructions, work them as plain sc rows, and set a 12 mm snap under the flap instead.
Color is your call, but the documentary logic holds best with a pale body, a genuinely red band, and a white panel. The object reads as an evidence bag because of the contrast hierarchy, not the yarn brand.
Bluebook: Williams, Rita. The Evidence Bag Pouch: A Clutch Justice Crochet Pattern, Clutch Justice (June 12, 2026), https://clutchjustice.com/2026/06/12/evidence-bag-pouch-crochet-pattern/.
APA 7: Williams, R. (2026, June 12). The evidence bag pouch: A Clutch Justice crochet pattern. Clutch Justice. https://clutchjustice.com/2026/06/12/evidence-bag-pouch-crochet-pattern/
MLA 9: Williams, Rita. “The Evidence Bag Pouch: A Clutch Justice Crochet Pattern.” Clutch Justice, 12 June 2026, clutchjustice.com/2026/06/12/evidence-bag-pouch-crochet-pattern/.
Chicago: Williams, Rita. “The Evidence Bag Pouch: A Clutch Justice Crochet Pattern.” Clutch Justice, June 12, 2026. https://clutchjustice.com/2026/06/12/evidence-bag-pouch-crochet-pattern/.
Clutch Justice Weekly covers Michigan courts, cold cases, institutional accountability, and the primary source methodology behind every investigation. Occasionally, a crochet pattern. Free. No paywall. No spam.
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