That's a great idea for re-purposing the leather! When I recover saddles, I visit the thrift stores and come home with a leather coat, usually for around five bucks. The material is thin enough and pliable enough to wrap around all the tight curves that the nose of a saddle throws at you. I can usually only get two saddles (if I'm lucky) out of a single jacket due to the small pieces that have been stitched together to make the whole. A couch, on the other hand, seems to offer a much larger canvas.