Leather applique is cut

I'd hoped to do the cutwork out of red and put it on a buttery orange leather I had, but the scrap wasn't nearly as large as I thought. So, I'm doing it the other way. Unfortunately the red leather is very, very lightweight. I'm thinking I need to interline it for structural stability so that the applique is visible rather than just sagging together. Doing that really steps away from the original pieces and I'd much rather buy a thicker leather, but I don't have room in my budget, either the $100 ACC one or my actual budget. So, I'm going to have a pretty shoulder bag with wool felt interlining and silk lining. Sumptuous, but not particularly accurate. I'm sort of bummed by that, but the result should be gorgeous.