Is there any way to move a section of an object to the front?

[BlueSoda]

Hello, I'm creating an illustration and I've run into an issue. I'm trying to move the arm of the person in front of the clothing. However, the arm is connected to the whole body and thus trying to move it to the front brings the entire body with it. I've tried to cut it and bring it forward but it warps with the shape and I can't fix it afterwards.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance

[tromboniator]

Not sure I understand what you mean by "it warps with the shape". You should be able to cut the arm in two places so that the hand is a separate open path, and just bring it to the front without having to adjust anything. Is the front leg part of the same path as the arm? If so, you could cut the point of the garment in a couple of places and move it behind the arm but in front of the leg.

Alternatively, direct select, copy, and paste in front just the hand and portion of the arm that you want to move to the front; fill the copy with black, and apply it as an opacity mask to the garment.

Peter