Did it myself. It's not hard, just tedious. Probably took me 3-4 hours over several days of sitting on the couch with it cursing.
I thought the same, until I looked around my Alcantara car and saw an inconsistent pattern: every surface that my clothing touched (seats, armrests) was Alcantara and that made sense. Every soft surface that was decorative (shift/brake boots) was Alcantara and that made sense - it looks great but doesn't wear well. Everything that my hands touched (shift knob, brake handle, steering wheel) should be leather. You get the best grip from fabric on fabric (clothes on seats) and leather on leather (hands on wheel). I felt ok about making the change to a leather wheel because function > form.
Welcome to the other side of purgatory! Such a frustrating job.
It'll hold up great. I haven't been easy on mine and it still looks new.