How do I put a layer over certain parts of my puppet?

[haydenr27823235]

Specifically, the goal I'm trying to achieve is to have the characters' torsos obscured by the ledge of the pool, but allow their hands to reach on top and write on the paper. I was thinking of making a copy of just the ledge in Photoshop and importing that as a new layer, but can't figure out how to do this. Any help?

[TheOriginalGC]

I would suggest making the ledge part of the puppet and duplicate the arms so that they're above the ledge layer.  This post discusses having a duplicate set of arms to move in front of and behind the puppet: Solved: Is it possible to have the upper arm behind the to... - Adobe Community - 12627283