Ooh there are some lovelies there.

I upgraded my Brother 1034 to the 4234D at a good price at the Ally Pally show a couple of years ago. It's easier to thread the loopers than 1034 & it has needle threaders which I wanted as my eyes are getting worse. I'm really pleased with it but it's just as noisy as its predessor when it needs oiling!

@Clduk I agree that a bit of poly mixed in makes for easy care/no iron but often the poly% isn't quoted and if there's too much they can be a bit sweaty/scratchy. Do you like knits? A good quality cotton lycra (95% cotton) is very comfortable and surprisingly cool in summer. I only buy CL if the weight is listed, at least 180 gsm but 200 or even 225 is lovely to make a t shirt dress for summer.

Hi @Clduk welcome. Another garment sewer here, I also had a long non-sewing gap when my children were young & I was working full time. I'm not petite. Although I used to be tall enough to join the forces or the police, I think the 'average' has now overtaken me! I have a long torso but don't usually need to adjust for this. That's the beauty of sewing to fit ourselves. I've used Pound Fabrics, Lamazi, Dragonfly fabrics online; what type of fabric are you looking for? Looking forward to seeing pics of your creations.

I've finished DD1's second nursing t shirt. I used 2 visible zips from stash and had no end of trouble. Cut to length, flamed the ends, overstitched. The first one went in fine but the second side of the other zip was unpicked 4 (yes, four) times before it was acceptable. I think this was because the zips were too thick. The invisible ones I've lost (obviously completely invisible) had much smaller pulls & thin tapes. On the plus side, I found a tube of toothpaste in a rather strange place. Yes, I searched our bedroom & the bathroom for the hidden zips & still didn't find them.

Cotton lawn might be too stiff for this pattern. The recommended fabrics (thanks @Kwaaked) are all drapery.

Before I bought my Pfaff the showroom lady demo'd it with heavy denim, stitching then folding, stiching then folding. It ended up with (I think) 12 layers, the machine stitched it no problem but there was no more space under the foot.