The image chosen to demonstrate this idea depicts twining vines; it isn't just a series of "independent" abstract blobs and ignoring that fact leads to some awkward / inelegant shapes.

Another solution, which will often be better if your images are vector and a little stretching is okay:

  border-image-repeat: round;

This also far more easily lets you have different butt images. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/P... for info and examples.

As good as the image tracing has gotten over the years, using the stock image trace function is never going to be as good as re-tracing the image yourself with the pen tool to get the exact curves and lines correct. Do it once (or twice or three times if you want a couple slightly different wreath shapes), then either make the shape a brush or use the blend/steps tool to create as many repeats as you want. Or option/alt drag to make a copy and build it yourself.

That will cut down on the finicky stuff and give you a better result in the end.