I have ordered from Gary's Upholstery and can vouvh for them. They sent my vinyl so fast! I was amazed. I swear it arrived in like one day! Their prices are good too. (They were one of the few people who carried Naugahyde Zodiac vinyl- sparkle vinyl.) I highly recommend them.

ebay, hands down. but tricky part is dertermining how much you need, since it does not come as standard yardage, rather hide size.

Good leather is not cheap.

I second the ebay suggestion - I think the seller I've used in the past goes by the name of Golden Needle Imports (?) Sounds sketchy, I know but I was happy with what I got.

In Montreal, I phoned the local fashion school(s) and got them to tell me where THEY buy their leather from.

From there, I tracked down a local wholesaler. Since my prospective purchase was more than his minimum, he had no problem letting me visit. I asked him his opinion, saw in different lights, and did research on leather first so I wasn't wasting his time.)

You may wish to talk to whomever is doing the uphostery about what sort of leather THEY want to deal with, first. Nothing like buying a couple of cows worth of worth of lovely leather in a delicious colour and fiinding out that there's no hope in hell of fitting that to the style of furniture uphostlery you want.

Some are too thick, some are too thin, some aren't suitable for many other reasons (Colour match, stretchiness, etc...)

Also: You'll need more than you think, mistakes happen, new furniture happens (good luck getting a match 6 months later), and generally waste happens (When you find a huge scar from a close enmcounter with barbed wire right in the middle of the peice of leather, former cow, that was going to be centered on the couch.)

Our firm has had good luck buying leather from Hightower Group http://www.hightoweraccess.com
they distribute Elmo Leather to the architects and designers in North America. They are professional and easy to work with - the minimum order is one hide.

Peace... Ann

My office recently bought a half-hide from Dualoy leather in New York...they're very nice folks and they have a wide selection of pieces. I don't know how their prices compare, but overall it was a good experience.

Their number is 212-736-3360.

I received a couple email asking for a more direct link.... here you go:

http://www.hightoweraccess.com/pricelist/leather.html

The designer price is $7.95 a square foot.

Peace ... Annie

WeLeather.com is high quality, great service and reasonably priced!

great selection of reasonably priced leathers and vinyl

http://www.miamicorp.com/

I'm new to the community but think adding a link to the company I work for would be of great value to the DIY community. Feel free to check out Leather Hide Store for a wide variety of upholstery leather. We cater to the DIY community by selling at wholesale prices to the public. We sell full hides as well as leather remnants that are needed for smaller projects.