Bright gray tones with a hint of some metal surface.
Source Hendrik Lammers
Gold Triangular Seamless Pattern No Background
Source GDJ
A monochrome pattern from a tile that can be had by selecting the rectangle in Inkscaope and using shift+alt+i
Source Firkin
Might not be super subtle, but quite original in its form.
Source Alex Smith
Design drawn in Paint.net, vectorised using Vector Magic and finished in Inkscape.
Source Firkin
From a drawing in 'Cassell's Library of English Literature', Henry Morley, 1883.
Source Firkin
Seamless pattern formed from a tile that can be had by selecting the rectangle in Inkscape and using shift-alt-i.
Source Firkin
Remixed from a drawing that was uploaded to Pixabay by DavidZydd
Source Firkin
A car pattern?! Can it be subtle? I say yes!
Source Radosław Rzepecki
This was formed by distorting an image of a background on Pixabay.
Source Firkin
First pattern tailor-made for Retina, with many more to come. All the old ones are upscaled, in case you want to re-download.
Source Atle Mo
From a drawing in 'Jardyne's Wife', Charles Wills, 1891.
Source Firkin
From a drawing in 'Artists and Arabs', Henry Blackburn, 1868
Source Firkin
Lovely light gray floral motif with some subtle shades.
Source GraphicsWall
Inspired by a 1930s wallpaper pattern I saw on TV.
Source Firkin
A free background tile with a pattern of pink bump dots. This background tile is sweet! Moreover, it's designed for use as website backgrounds.
Source V. Hartikainen
A rusty grunge background for websites. Feel free to use it in your site's theme.
Source V. Hartikainen
White fabric looking texture with some nice random wave features.
Source Hendrik Lammers
This is a semi-dark pattern, sort of linen-y.
Source Sagive SEO
Zero CC tileable brick texture, photographed and made by me. CC0
Source Sojan Janso
Original minus the background
Source Firkin
Remixed from a design seen in 'Burghley. The Life of William Cecil', William Charlton, 1857
Source Firkin