So, I had a go at buying a cheap kit off ebay to recover my really badly "pebbled" stock leather. The stock leather had also worn through to the suede in a few spots and it really bothered me.
Here's what I ordered.
https://www.ebay.com/i/122637477409?chn=ps
First of all, the kit took several weeks to arrive. I suspect they make them when they receive an order, and it takes some time. So don't be expecting it in a few days.
I went with the "presewn" option which means you just have to run thread between the two sides of the seam back and forth. Install took about 5 hours. The stock leather can be easily removed by carefully taking a razor and cutting the thread of the stock stiching. If need be, I could even reinstall the stock cover if I wanted to.
I'm really happy with how parts of it turned out, and don't like how other parts turned out. The upper rim, lower rim and upper spokes are great, but the lower spokes fell like they have a bit of extra material and fit a bit loose despite cinching the stiching and using tabs of glue on the spokes. Still, overall, for $50, I'm happy for now. The new leather feels so much nicer, and it looks pretty good. I'm keeping my eye out for a used wheel in good condition though, or if I really can't find one, I might send it to Craft Customs who will recover it like new for $299.
Before:
During:
Stiching. The presewn option gets you the two parallel rows of stitches on either side of the seam. You then stitch them together, going every other loop on the rim, and every loop around the spokes. It's pretty easy but time consuming, and hard to get perfect around the spokes.
After: