I have only ever eliminated the darts when a pattern that calls for a woven fabric and I am using one with stretch, but all I do is fold the dart on the pattern peice and cut. I am not sure if that will work for lace.

I guess you can move it to the side ( aka eliminate it by trimming the side away). Measure how big the darts are, for example... front piece, 1.5 cm each, then trim the side seam 1.5 cm.(cut on fold) Like Passion Flower said, it might not work good on woven fabric. It will be ok if you don't have alot of curve.

My advice is similar to Passion Flower's only I would slash open the pattern through the dart until you get about 1cm before the opposite side of the pattern. Then overlap the pattern to eliminate the dart. That way the pattern piece stays flat. And, like JJ said, if your body is curvy you may need that shaping to make the dress fit nicely. In that case you can slightly ease or gather the dart fabric into the waist seam if you need the shaping. But, also as Passion Flower mentioned, if your lace is stretchy it shouldn't be an issue.

i would do yhe same as passion flower as that is the way i was taught at university