This Mom From The Woodlands Is Giving Baby Clothes a Soft Boost — Nestling Baby’s First Big Shopping Steps

It’s been nearly eight years since Woodlands resident Angela Strong sketched the first designs for her infant clothing line dubbed Nestling Baby. It finally took its first real steps this month with a pop-up at Market Street.

The idea took root when Strong searched for soft pima cotton baby clothing and found only loud colors and cliched children’s motifs. Strong wanted something more subtle, more refined. That creative gap, paired with a desire to balance her analytical career as a CPA, inspired her to design it herself.

“I wanted to create something muted but still had an underlying theme,” Strong tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “So I started drawing. I’ve always had both left brain and right brain, and I like to relieve one with the other.

“If I look at spreadsheets too long, then I want to go play the piano. I could play the piano for four hours and then I’ll want to look at spreadsheets.”

Strong began translating her sketches into fabric in 2018. She turned one drawing into a repeating pattern, subtle and only visible up close, giving it an elegant, almost secretive quality. The designs feature soft, child-friendly motifs, like rocking horses, birds and butterflies. Rather than dominating the fabric, they gently emerge upon closer inspection.

To add variety while keeping everything cohesive, Strong developed a series of coordinating stripes and dots. These designs echo the same understated color schemes, allowing parents to create outfits with ease.

“It’s meant to be mixed and matched,” Strong notes.

Parents can quickly swap out one item — like pants or a onesie — without needing a full outfit change, which is especially useful during frequent wardrobe mishaps. Each piece can pair with several others in the collection without clashing.

Momentum Meets Mayhem

With drawings in hand and momentum on her side, Angela Strong flew to Peru to find the right manufacturer. Through research, she learned that Peru is known for its high-quality pima cotton and had identified a few potential partners.

“I flew down to Peru with a friend who speaks Spanish and helped me navigate getting to the location,” Strong says. “The manufacturer was very accommodating. And they really liked my designs.”

The trip went better than expected. Strong placed her first order and came home ready to launch.

But life intervened. A family matter needed her attention. Then COVID hit.

Nestling Baby was packed away before it could make its debut. Strong stored 15 boxes of inventory and shifted her focus back to family and running her 25-person CPA firm. Still, she never let go of the idea. The clothes were made. The vision was there. Nestling Baby was a few steps away from launch.

It just wasn’t the right time. It is now.

Unboxing the Dream

This year, Strong finally moved forward with Nestling Baby.

“The first step was getting it out of the boxes and organized. The second step was creating a presence on Instagram to get the ball rolling,” she says. “Counting the inventory took me a year and a half, because I could only work on it in small windows.

“Once I had everything counted and loaded on the website, I could finally take orders. That’s when I started posting more on Instagram.”

A chance encounter with Market Street general manager Noemi Gonzales propelled Strong to move forward with Nestling Baby’s physical launch. It happened the week after Mother’s Day as a temporary pop-up at Market Street, giving the brand a short-term retail home to test the waters.

Strong enlisted Woodlands Style House’s Leah Ford to help her with the storefront and event planning. She also brought in Rebecca Tavares of RE Imagine HTX for pop-up props.

“The store had a lot of really great feedback,” Strong says. “I’ve gotten a lot of support from locals and friends that stopped by. It’s amazing.”

This Woodlands entrpreneur plans to keep designing, with baby holiday looks already taking shape in her mind. It’s a Strong start — and just the beginning for this bustling baby brand.

Nestling Baby is now available online. For more information or to shop the collection, go here.