Where to buy upholstery?

[Mr Bean]

Anyone do upholstery? Can you recommend a place to buy automotive leather in bulk at reasonable price? I tried looking around but no clue who sells quality stuff.

[Mainemantom]

Most upholstery material wholesalers will not deal with anyone other than shops. I know you have to order either a half a hide or a full hide which is already color dyed. The hide may also have flaws, no guarantee that it won't Reasonable price ? Except for the markup from the individual shops, it is basically all the same. If you want exact factory leather material, there is one place that is very very expensive. Can't think of the name right now. I have used the place for cloth material. You might check out the vinyl that is on the market that looks and feels just like leather. If I have to replace leather, I will go with that. Much easier to work with, lasts longer and cost is much less. You also can buy in bulk.
I have not bought material for over ten years. I just worked on my own stuff. Sold my machine a few years ago.
If you can find a local shop that is willing to help you, that would be great. Most shops will not help much as they want the work.

[Mr Bean]

I am looking to recover the whole interior in leather. Dash, door panels, console and plastic trim pieces. I won't be doing the seats. I am not concerned about using exact factory leather material as long as the color matches but I would prefer to use leather over vinyl. I think it will hold up better in the long run.

I bought headliner material before that was a perfect match for factory color and was advertised as such but for the life of me I can't find the site that I bought it from.

I tried a few local shops but like you said most just want to do the work and won't sell the material.

[SeanP]

My co-worker's significant other is an upholsterer. She said he may be able to hook you up since they get material at a wholesale rate, but warned leather was expensive... but expensive can be relative so... anyway, let me know I can PM you the contact info. They are located in Stratford, but I could pick it up for you and meet you somewhere closer (even if you just came to my place to get it would save you over an hour in total driving time).