LE Merging Armor Pieces In Blender

[AtrayusRuhn]

I've been working on modifying Hide armor as part of a project to make all the armor in Skyrim more insulating against the cold. For Hide armor, I'm trying to merge the vest from the Imperial Light cuirass with the Hide skirt and cross-straps. My goal is to somehow make the cross-straps and pauldron fit over the Imperial Light cuirass in the same way that they fit over the vest in Studded armor. This is where I'm at so far:

 

 

 

I removed the Imperial Light cuirass's leather skirt, belt, sleeves, and the left shoulder's protrusions. As you can see, there's still some touch-ups to do in order to get the vest beneath the Hide armor's cross-straps and pauldron without clipping. You'll also notice (from the side views) that the vest's belly protrudes quite a bit beyond the Hide skirt, and there is a gap between the two at the waist (since I removed the Imperial Light cuirass's belt). My question is, is there some way to push in or compress the vest's belly, sides, and other areas that are clipping with or covering the Hide armor's cross-straps and pauldron? I want to bring the vest in closer to the body and make it tighter-fitting (like the vest in Studded armor), so that the cross-straps and pauldron will fit over it.

 

Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks.