Carla from Hammers & Highheels has a little tutorial on how she sewed up her own vinyasa scarf. I think this would make an excellent, affordable, not too time consuming gift.

Her version uses a big piece of jersey, but you could also use cotton, or a bunch of different fabrics pieced together. From what I can tell, the original vinyasa scarf has unfinished edges along the side, and uses twill tape to stabilize along where the snaps are. This project requires only simple sewing, but would be good for getting used to working with snaps and different kinds of fabric.