Birthday gifts

[ibinitch.livejournal.com]

I have two nieces who will be turning one soon, one in November and the other in December. I'm a struggling college student and have little cash so I'm hoping to make them something that doesn't cost too much. Any ideas? I've been driving myself crazy trying to come up with something and I really appreciate any help you all can give me ;D

Squid Vision!

[malicious-pengy.livejournal.com]

I'm not a very experienced sewer at all, but I want to try to recreate the squid hat in the picture below.

( Squid hat! )

I think I've made a workable pattern, but I want to do it with fleece. I've never sewn fleece before, so...how many layers could an average sewing machine go through? My main concern right now is if I'd be able to make narrow tentacles, or if they would be really hard to turn right side out. Is there anything I should be concerned about?