I am driving a 1991 F150 Lariat. The upholstery on the seat is torn and missing on the driver's side. The seat is a gray bench seat with the armrest.

I spoke with a lady at the local upholstery shop. She said it would be difficult to find material that matches. She said it would be around $100 to repair the seat and she can not guarantee that the stitching would hold do to the age of the material.

I have found the upholstery two places online. Amazon wants $387 and LMC wants $590.

Does anyone know where I can find material that looks like original, or somewhere that sells an upholstery kit cheaper?

My seat looks very similar to this one.

 

This company sells the OEM material by the running yard which
is 60 inches wide x 3ft. Their web-site doesn't show much but
they do answer e-mails and will send samples. Three years ago I was
quoted $90.00 a running yard for the fabric. Was told it would take
1 and 3/4 yards to do a complete bench seat.
They also sell the piping material.

Company - SMS Auto Fabrics

 

I bought mine on eBay and I have the same material as you do, you can look for it every now and again, maybe you will get lucky. BTW when you buy it in bulk, it is called "body cloth".

Here is an example of what you are looking for - this looks like it might be for 92-96 F-Series seats:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-BODY-CLOTH-OEM-DETROIT-FABRIC-61012-NEW-39-x62-/230949375022?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35c5a7cc2e&vxp=mtr

 

I would try to find a replacement seat in good condition from the junkyard, Craigslist, etc. Assuming you want to stay with a bench seat, one option to investigate would be using a bench from a later generation truck with your base. I bet you could find one in decent shape for short money from someone who upgraded to bucket seats.

 

If you are gonna search for a used seat, look for the back seat out of a crew cab. They will be much less worn. Remember the newest of this body style is 17 years old.