Marfy 2264 - Sleeves and hood

Thanks to the cold weather I've managed to get two full days at home to sew which has been fabulous.  I've worked on my coat solidly for two days though its been quite slow going as the fabric is really challenging to sew, press and handle.  It took five hours just to press and pin two patch pockets, two pocket flaps and five tabs.  Today it took an hour to turn the belt through (it required use of a wooden spoon and my teeth to prevail over the belt).  I've now come to a temporary halt on the machine work and just have a massive pile of hand sewing to do before I can move to the next stage.

Both sleeves are now sewn in permanently and the turn backs are done apart from the buttons, which I need to buy.  I did get a set of flat, four hole buttons in wood and another set in painted wood, and matching smaller buttons, but they don't look as good as anticipated and I think the coat is too thick for anything other than shank buttons. 

Today I tried to save time by sewing my sleeve lining into the armhole seam along with the main sleeve.  This didn't work AT ALL.   It made much more work as I then had to bodge up a fix for it.   I've made some bias binding from lining and will sew that over the mess, giving me something to sew the body lining to when I get to that point.  The other sleeve was sewn without the lining included, so that just needs sewing to the armhole seamline ready to be matched with the body lining.

Once the sleeves were in I constructed the hood and hood lining (and the belt).  As you can see the hood lining isn't anchored down at all so its all over the place.  I don't think it will look that crappy once the coat is done but admit it looks pretty pants at the current stage.  The hood is now attached to the coat neckline permanently. 

Next on the list of things to do:
sew all the tabs and pocket pieces by hand.
sew the hole in the belt closed by hand where I turned the belt through.
pick stitch the hood edge so the lining is tamed and lies to the inside where it belongs.
catch stitch the lining seams to the main seams on the hood to stop the lining billowing out like a sail in the wind.
pick stitch the belt
pick stitch the tabs and pocket pieces.
sew down the lining at the sleeves, and apply the bias strip to the "bright idea" sleeve
Put in shoulder pads (the coat is a touch wide on the shoulders without them and it looks nicer with some in).
Sew the belt loops and pockets on by hand. 
Sew over the belt loops/pockets by machine.

Still need to work out the least bulky way to attach my facings.  Wondering if it is possible to sew the facing to the centre fronts and hem only by machine then smooth them into place at the neckline and shoulder, catch stitch them to the relevant seam allowances, trimming to match and then sew the hood lining over the lot to neaten it?  

The lining pieces still need drafting and cutting out and all the finishing bits will need doing.  There's quite a way to go before the coat will be wearable... but it does at least look like a coat now, and not a pile of bits randomly pinned to a dress form.

I'm not totally sure that my sleeve tabs aren't a bit too long.  There's not much I can do about it now, but for next time I may make them a little shorter.  I'm not convinced they are quite in proportion, though it may look more obvious due to the contrast fabrics I've used.