Numbat - a lesser known woodland creature!

On a recent visit to the Perth Zoo I encountered a Numbat and wondered why I had never seen one of these Australian marsupials before.  I was struck by her beauty.  The colours in her fur were vibrant - appearing orange with black and white stripes on the lower part of the body.  She seemed very happy foraging in her enclosure, oblivious to being watched, hoping and jumping and scurrying.  Numbats are endangered. Once found right across the lower half of Australia, they are now only found in a very small region of Western Australia. The introduction of the red fox has been one of the major causes for such small numbers of numbats. Loss of their woodland habitats has also exacted a toll. Numbats eat termites and are active in the day - making them even more vulnerable.  The Perth Zoo has a breeding program and has so far been able to release 100 numbats back into the wild.

The red fox, which destroys so much of our native wildlife, has been a popular motif in recent times.  I thought I'd have a go at adding a numbat motif to a skirt.

Using a photo I found on Google images, i sketched my version.

 

Then translated this into fabric and stitched it on to one of the skirt front pieces I had cut out before stitching up the skirt.  Here is the finished result.  I'm happy with it.  I wanted a soft, light approach that blended, almost camouflaged, with the rest of the skirt