I assume you will be making a toile. Use a nice stable fabric for this (I always like a calico) and this will let you perfect the fit and get the right amount of ease.
I highly recommend Alison Smith's Craftsy class on working with lace, which goes through all different types of lace.
Lace is usually fairly transparent, so I am assuming you will have some sort of under-layer? I hand-stitched lace motifs to my bodice, which had a silk layer underlined with cotton lawn, then a layer of tulle over the top and I stitched the lace on through all these layers. This made it nice and stable. The illusion back and neckline, which were just tulle, were pulled down by the weight of the lace, and I had to add a layer of silk organza at a later stage to support it.
I had to hand stitch due to the beading on my lace, but it is possible to stitch the lace on by machine. I did a machine stitched 'invisible' seam, overlapping the lace motifs and following the motif lines on my mum's mother of the bride dress, and this might work for applying the motifs, depending on the lace you choose.
Looking forward to hearing how you get on!