If I quilted or something, I’d love cloth, but your friend may prefer a gift card to the fabric store. Tastes are so very personal.
However, if you do sew the shirt yourself, good on you! Not many people make things for gifts anymore, and it shows that you were willing to go that extra mile and give of your time as well.
Either way, making or buying, I’d try to find something that fits. If you buy a shirt, it’s better to go too small for a woman than too big, because you can always say, “But you look smaller than that!”. (Probably go too big for a guy, because you can always tell him he looked beefier.)
But sure. Cloth, or clothing, is a great and practical gift.