This type of work can be found in many parts of the world. It was popular, for example, in the Eastern Mediterranean (see Mamluk samplers; Qadisha Valley embroidery) during the medieval period.
The darning stitch is also known as the tacking stitch.
Source: THOMAS, Mary (1934). Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches, London: Hodder and Stoughton, pp. 72-73.
GVE