How to slide a pattern brush along a path?

Question

I created a pattern brush and applied to a path. I'd like to slide it through that path but can't find a way to do it.

I have a workaround for when it's on a straight line but I can't seem to find a solution for other situations.

For example, I made this shape to create a Thorn Vine pattern brush:

When I create a pattern brush, it works really well, as you can see here:

If I want to slide the pattern along a straight path, I can just make it longer and then expand and cut the part I want, like so:

I can even fake it for circles:

But how should I do it if I have a closed path? Like a rectangle, triangle, ellipse, star or even a custom path?

It seems ridiculous to make a pattern brush for every "offset" I want. All "solutions" I have are bad because, even though they work, it involves a lot of work. Imagine having to extend the start and end of a open path just to have this??? Yikes. And even though, those solutions don't work at all for closed paths. The ideal would be to have a "slide" or "offset" inside the brush settings but that currently doesn't exist. Or at least I can't find. Does someone know if I'm missing something or have a tip for how could I achieve this?

Using a scatter brush doesn't work because the patterns don't connect with each other.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The short answer is, no, there's no way to "slide" or "offset" the pattern starting point on the path.

One possible workaround would be something like this:

1. Cut the path with the knife tool
2. Delete extra point, this moves the starting point to the spot where you cut the path.
3. Join the points and now you have a closed path again, with the starting point that's shifted.