The ppat tip is good! This is how I solved it in my Brushed themes, although i used a flat grey instead of a smaller pattern.

And the tab pane tip is really important, and it allows so much more freedom!
To help you picture this, here is a screenshot from Classic Platinum:


The only thing I could not accomplish in this was the lighter color that is used in OS 9, because then it would cover the thick edges. But other than that it's very true to Platinum.
The thing with brushed apps can be solved with DeMetallifizer if needed..

Glad you figured those out BBX, I'm curious to see how you used them..

This is turning out to be a helpfull thread!